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Back in the day, the two big counterculture sci-fi novels were the libertarian-division Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein, which made the word “grok” a thing for many years (not so much anymore; hardly even pops up in crossword puzzles today) and Frank Herbert ’s 1965 Dune , a futuristic geopolitical allegory that was anti-corporate, pro-eco-radicalism, and Islamophilic. Why mega-producers and mega-corporations have been pursuing the ideal film adaptation of this piece of intellectual property for so many decades is a question beyond the purview of this review, but it’s an interesting one.

As a pretentious teenager in the 1970s, I didn’t read much sci-fi, even countercultural sci-fi, so Dune missed me. When David Lynch ’s 1984 film of the novel, backed by then mega-producer Dino De Laurentiis , came out I didn’t read it either. As a pretentious twentysomething film buff, not yet professional grade, the only thing that mattered to me was that it was a Lynch picture. But for some reason—due diligence, or curiosity about how my life might have been different had I gone with Herbert and Heinlein rather than Nabokov and Genet back in the day—I read Herbert’s book recently. Yeah, the prose is clunky and the dialogue often clunkier, but I liked much of it, particularly the way it threaded its social commentary with enough scenes of action and cliff-hanging suspense to fill an old-time serial.

The new film adaptation of the book, directed by Denis Villeneuve from a script he wrote with Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts , visualizes those scenes magnificently. As many of you are aware, “Dune” is set in the very distant future, in which humanity has evolved in many scientific respects and mutated in a lot of spiritual ones. Wherever Earth was, the people in this scenario aren’t on it, and the imperial family of Atreides is, in a power play we don’t become entirely conversant with for a while, tasked with ruling the desert planet of Arrakis. Which yields something called “the spice”—that’s crude oil for you eco-allegorists in the audience—and presents multivalent perils for off-worlders (that’s Westerners for you geo-political allegorists in the audience).

To say I have not admired Villeneuve’s prior films is something of an understatement. But I can’t deny that he’s made a more-than-satisfactory movie of the book. Or, I should say, two-thirds of the book. (The filmmaker says it’s half but I believe my estimate is correct.) The opening title calls it “Dune Part 1” and while this two-and-a-half hour movie provides a bonafide epic experience, it's not coy about connoting that there’s more to the story. Herbert’s own vision corresponds to Villeneuve’s own storytelling affinities to the extent that he apparently did not feel compelled to graft his own ideas to this work. And while Villeneuve has been and likely remains one of the most humorless filmmakers alive, the novel wasn’t a barrel of laughs either, and it’s salutary that Villeneuve honored the scant light notes in the script, which I suspect came from Roth.

Throughout, the filmmaker, working with amazing technicians including cinematographer Greig Fraser , editor Joe Walker , and production designer Patrice Vermette , manages to walk the thin line between grandeur and pomposity in between such unabashed thrill-generating sequences as the Gom Jabbar test, the spice herder rescue, the thopter-in-a-storm nail-biter, and various sandworm encounters and attacks. If you’re not a “Dune” person these listings sound like gibberish, and you will read other reviews complaining about how hard to follow this is. It’s not, if you pay attention, and the script does a good job with exposition without making it seem like EXPOSITION. Most of the time, anyway. But, by the same token, there may not be any reason for you to be interested in “Dune” if you’re not a science-fiction-movie person anyway. The novel’s influence is huge, particularly with respect to George Lucas . DESERT PLANET, people. The higher mystics in the “Dune” universe have this little thing they call “The Voice” that eventually became “Jedi Mind Tricks.” And so on.

Villeneuve’s massive cast embodies Herbert’s characters, who are generally speaking more archetypes than individuals, very well. Timothée Chalamet leans heavily on callowness in his early portrayal of Paul Atreides, and shakes it off compellingly as his character realizes his power and understands how to Follow His Destiny. Oscar Isaac is noble as Paul’s dad the Duke; Rebecca Ferguson both enigmatic and fierce as Jessica, Paul’s mother. Zendaya is an apt, a better than apt, Chani. In a deviation from Herbert’s novel, the ecologist Kynes is gender-switched, and played with intimidating force by Sharon Duncan-Brewster . And so on.

A little while back, complaining about the Warner Media deal that’s going to put “Dune” on streaming at the same time as it plays theaters, Villeneuve said the movie had been made “as a tribute to the big-screen experience.” At the time, that struck me as a pretty dumb reason to make a movie. Having seen “Dune,” I understand better what he meant, and I kind of approve. The movie is rife with cinematic allusions, mostly to pictures in the tradition of High Cinematic Spectacle. There’s “ Lawrence of Arabia ,” of course, because desert. But there’s also “ Apocalypse Now ” in the scene introducing Stellan Skarsgård ’s bald-as-an-egg Baron Harkonnen. There’s “ 2001: A Space Odyssey .” There are even arguable outliers but undeniable classics such as Hitchcock’s 1957 version of “The Man Who Knew Too Much” and Antonioni’s “Red Desert.” Hans Zimmer ’s let’s-test-those-subwoofers score evokes Christopher Nolan . (His music also nods to Maurice Jarre ’s “Lawrence” score and György Ligeti’s “Atmospheres” from “2001.”) But there are visual echoes of Nolan and of Ridley Scott as well.

These will tickle or infuriate certain cinephiles dependent on their immediate mood or general inclination. I thought them diverting. And they didn’t detract from the movie’s main brief. I’ll always love Lynch’s “Dune,” a severely compromised dream-work that (not surprising given Lynch’s own inclination) had little use for Herbert’s messaging. But Villeneuve’s movie is “Dune.”

Opens in theaters on October 22nd, available on HBO Max the same day. This review was filed on September 3rd in conjunction with the world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

Glenn Kenny

Glenn Kenny was the chief film critic of Premiere magazine for almost half of its existence. He has written for a host of other publications and resides in Brooklyn. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film credits.

Dune (2021)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, some disturbing images and suggestive material.

155 minutes

Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides

Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica

Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto Atreides

Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck

Zendaya as Chani

Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen

Dave Bautista as Beast Rabban

Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Liet Kynes

Stephen Henderson as Thufir Hawat

Chang Chen as Dr. Wellington Yueh

David Dastmalchian as Piter De Vries

Charlotte Rampling as Reverend Mother Mohiam

Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho

Javier Bardem as Stilgar

Golda Rosheuvel as Shadout Mapes

Denis Villeneuve

Writer (based on the novel written by)

Frank Herbert
Jon Spaihts

Cinematographer

Greig Fraser
Hans Zimmer

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Dune Reviews

Villeneuve’s “Dune” is the cinematic equivalent of a meditation garden: gorgeous to watch with its characters’ polished skin, smooth stonelike spaceships, sand enveloped landscapes, sunlight

Full Review | Mar 24, 2024

It would be enough of a cinematic experience with just the visuals, but the technical elements within the sound are award-worthy.

Full Review | Original Score: A+ | Mar 1, 2024

Few movies showcase this scale, and once again, Villeneuve proves himself one of the best filmmakers alive. However, some early pacing issues and the two-part nature make Dune feel somewhat incomplete.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Mar 1, 2024

Dune’s first half lived up to the hype as a mix of political intrigue, sci-fi storytelling and a large selection of really interesting characters, all with great visuals and sound design to match.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 26, 2024

There are even moments that surpass the novel, especially the relationship between Leto and Paul, mainly due to a heartfelt speech from Oscar Isaac...

Full Review | Feb 24, 2024

Director Denis Villeneuve never misses and succeeds again in this adaptation with incredible performances especially from Timothee Chalamet and Rebecca Ferguson.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 11, 2023

The end result is a movie worthy of the source material.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 10, 2023

an incredibly well-crafted adaptation that's faithful to the source material while also breathing new life into it, and an immersive, epic cinematic journey that will absolutely leave you aching for more.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 8, 2023

Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One is a worthy addition to the collection, besting the Lynch film in certain ways but still flummoxed and frustrated by the source material’s conversation-heavy downside.

Full Review | Jul 28, 2023

Dune is a masterful sci-fi blockbuster that is going to please the majority of its audience. The visuals are crying out to be seen on the biggest screen possible, easily becoming the movies standout.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 27, 2023

A true cinematic treasure that will be cherished for decades to come & gave me the same feeling that I got watching A New Hope for the first time. This is Epic to the highest of standards & I need more right now.

Full Review | Original Score: A+ | Jul 26, 2023

The talented cast is in service of spectacle, doing little more than providing the expositional sutures that connect one elaborate set piece to the next.

Full Review | Jul 26, 2023

Dune sets the new standard for epic cinema with eyegamic visuals, powerful sound design and score, and a compelling story surrounded by an absolutely massive scale. Denis Villeneuve adds yet another audiovisual masterpiece to his filmography.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Jul 25, 2023

Dune is so engaged in getting the plot right and building an appropriate world that it doesn’t have time to let its characters bond or develop a real connection.

Full Review | Jul 24, 2023

Villeneuve can build spectacle and innovative tales because we have seen him do it before, but his rendition of Dune isn’t one of them.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Jul 21, 2023

Laced with complex politics, interesting themes on religion, gender, imperialism, and environmentalism; this has just about everything a fantasy/sci-fi fan could want.

Full Review | Jul 19, 2023

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is simply epic in every sense of the word, from the acting and action sequences, to the score from Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer. The grandeur of the film is accentuated by captivating shots and landscapes

Trust me, on the big screen, the blue is blue enough to bring the intensity when needed...

Full Review | Apr 5, 2023

Dune is a true masterpiece. I can’t wait to see how this duology ends, and if Denis Villeneuve sticks the landing, this may be the best science fiction movie of all time.

Full Review | Feb 10, 2023

Five years later, the most cogent thought I emerged from Dune with was, "Hans Zimmer must be stopped."

Full Review | Nov 28, 2022

Dune (2021) Review

22 Oct 2021

Dune (2021)

In Dune , much is made of dreams. It’s the first word of Denis Villeneuve’s film , spoken in a booming, bone-rattling voiceover before a single production logo has even appeared. It’s prophetic dreams of a blue-eyed girl on the planet Arrakis that drive protagonist Paul Atreides ( Timothée Chalamet ) towards his mysterious future. Villeneuve himself has often named Dune as his dream project. And for science-fiction devotees, especially those who have long-worshipped Frank Herbert’s dense tome and waited decades for it to be brought to the screen in a more successful incarnation than previous filmmakers have managed, make no mistake: Villeneuve’s Dune is the adaptation you always dreamed of.

A lot has been written of the complexity of Dune — a 1965 book whose near-impenetrability on the page is legendary, with a story so expansive and mythology so sprawling that even talented filmmakers like Alejandro Jodorowsky (whose version never came to fruition ) and David Lynch (who disowned his own 1984 take ) stumbled in their attempts to capture it. Notably, many of its images and ideas have instead disseminated into everything from Star Wars to Studio Ghibli’s Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind . Villeneuve’s approach is to split the story in half — Dune is actually, by its own title card’s admission, Dune: Part One . It’s a bold gambit — especially since the implied ‘Part Two’ is yet to shoot, and its existence is seemingly predicated on the financial success of this first instalment — but going by everything achieved here, it’s a narratively vital decision. Across a two-and-a-half-hour runtime, Villeneuve luxuriates in establishing Herbert’s vision of a stark galactic empire in which simmering political tensions threaten to boil over, mystical theologies intersect with powerful institutions and industrial interests, and humanity is humbled by the vast power of nature.

Though there’s plenty to establish, Villeneuve — who also co-writes along with Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth — makes surprisingly light work of it all. Chiefly, the story concerns House Atreides — one of several dynastic factions co-existing under a grand empire known as the Imperium. Duke Leto Atreides ( Oscar Isaac ) is tasked by the Emperor to take over the rule of desert planet Arrakis (aka Dune), home of the most valuable substance in the galaxy, Spice. But since the brutal House Harkonnen has successfully overseen the Arrakis operation for 80 years, Duke Leto senses his house’s appointment there is likely a trap. Meanwhile his son Paul is having visions of Fremen girl Chani ( Zendaya ) — and there are signs he could be a prophesised Chosen One as foretold by the Bene Gesserit, an order of mystic women (of which Paul’s mother, Lady Jessica ( Rebecca Ferguson ), is one).

It’s a lot, then — and that’s before you get into the fact that Arrakis also plays host to colossal burrowing sandworms that make crossing the sun-scorched desert a nigh-on impossible proposition. Perhaps it’s the way Villeneuve’s film introduces each faction and world with such precision, or that in a post- Game Of Thrones world mainstream audiences are more primed for this kind of grand-sweep storytelling than ever before — but Dune is never as formidable as it threatens to be. Much of it is in the astonishing production design, which clearly delineates every world and faction with its own visual identity — the cool palette of House Atreides’ oceanic planet Caladan is totally distinct from the gothic caverns of shadowy Harkonnen homeworld Giedi Prime, and a world away from the sizzling expanse of Arrakis. Villeneuve is a visionary filmmaker, and he lets his images do as much of the narrative heavy-lifting as the dialogue

When you finally get to Arrakis, the overriding emotion _Dune_ evokes really kicks in: a near-constant jaw-on-the-floor awe.

If the Part One approach means Dune tells essentially half of a story, it allows that half all the breathing room it requires. After a dreamy opening reel in which Chani establishes the story’s anti-colonialist themes in voiceover (“Who will our next oppressors be?” she wonders as the Harkonnen armies depart Arrakis), we spend a comfortable amount of time on Caladan, establishing Duke Leto’s sense of duty and suspicions of imminent betrayal; Paul’s anxiety over his doom-laden dreams, his skill as a fighter under the tutelage of the grizzled Gurney Halleck ( Josh Brolin ), and his camaraderie with sword-swinging warrior Duncan Idaho ( Jason Momoa ); and Lady Jessica’s potentially conflicting responsibilities as Paul’s mother and a member of the Bene Gesserit order. The pacing is perfect — Villeneuve makes you wait just long enough, so when the action moves to Arrakis you’re just as eager to venture into the desert as Paul.

When you finally get there, the overriding emotion Dune evokes really kicks in: a near-constant jaw-on-the-floor awe. The sense of scale conjured up is, from moment to moment, frequently astonishing. Cinematographer Greig Fraser — who previously delivered the mind-blowing planet-explosion shots in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story — keeps the camerawork largely static and stately, with lingering wide shots that let you drink in all the detail of the gorgeous sets, and bask in the vistas of Villeneuve’s galactic visions. In one shot, the transport ships bound for Arrakis are of ant-like insignificance against the deep expanse of space. At ground-level, they’re colossal. The visual vastness is matched by a Hans Zimmer score that is, to use a technical term, full-Zimmer —with howling human voices, clattering drums sure to make any cinema seat rattle like a 4DX chair, and inexplicable space-bagpipes.

This is blockbuster filmmaking in the Christopher Nolan mould — smart, propulsive, and really big. But more than any one Nolan film in particular, Dune feels most reminiscent of The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring . Like Fellowship , it’s merely the opening part of a story, but manages to feel like a masterwork in its own right. Like Fellowship , it establishes a sprawling and complex world that feels both familiar and utterly new with the lightest of touches. And like Fellowship , its biggest set-piece comes just after the midway point — after 90 minutes of setting up dominos, Villeneuve finally lets them clatter into one another in spectacular style, scattering the characters to the winds as the final hour becomes an all-out survival movie.

Among the uniformly excellent performances, Timothée Chalamet holds his own in his first blockbuster leading role. In a film this size, there’s every chance he’d get swallowed up by the sandworm-like enormity of everything around him — but even against the colossal spectacle, the magnetic charisma he displayed in smaller indie fare shines through.

With Villeneuve’s focus primarily on the turning tides of revolution, the emotional strings don’t tug as strongly on a human level. But the film does spend plenty of time bedding in with the Atreides and their inner circle – Ferguson gives a wrenching performance as Paul faces a bone-crunching test in an early reel, and Momoa and Brolin in particular bring moments of life and lightness to the most typically adventure-story roles of the ensemble.

While Dune already feels like an astonishing achievement, there’s no getting around the fact that it’s only half the story – and unlike Fellowship , there’s no guarantee of a Two Towers next year. For now, we have more proof that Denis Villeneuve is a masterful filmmaker, particularly in science-fiction — once again conjuring the hypnotic, glacial heft of Blade Runner 2049 and the truly alien visual qualities of Arrival . But to quote Cloud Atlas (another huge, ambitious sci-fi novel adaptation — one which failed to set the box office alight nearly a decade ago), “a half-finished book is, after all, a half-finished love affair”. To be left dangling without ‘Dune: Part Two’ would be a particular heartbreak. Here’s hoping we won’t only be seeing it in our dreams.

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Empire – October 23 – Dune Part Two cover crop

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Dune review – Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic gets off to an electrifying start

The French-Canadian director of Blade Runner 2049 brings an astonishing visual sensibility to Frank Herbert’s ‘unfilmable’ sci-fi classic

F or years, it seemed that the greatest film ever to come from Frank Herbert’s quasi-biblical 1960s sci-fi novel Dune would be a 2013 documentary about the failure to make a great film out of Herbert’s novel. In Jodorowsky’s Dune , director Frank Pavich documented the Chilean-French maverick’s unhinged (and ultimately abortive) effort to mount a screen adaptation with a projected 14-hour running time, featuring a starring role for Salvador Dalí and a burning giraffe. Really.

Crucially, Pavich’s engrossing doc suggested that although Jodorowsky’s film never actually existed, it still cast a long creative shadow, with the pre-production work of the French graphic novelist Moebius and Swiss artist HR Giger influencing Star Wars , Alien and pretty much all subsequent screen sci-fi, a claim that cannot be made about David Lynch’s finished but fatally flawed 1984 version.

Now, the French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve, whose impressive genre CV includes Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 , has made a bold stab at proving that Herbert’s book may not be unfilmable after all. Opening with the words “Part One” and closing with a declaration that “this is just the beginning”, Villeneuve’s Dune sensibly tackles only one manageable section of the story, avoiding the baffling narrative compressions and ellipses that blighted Lynch’s version, while reining in the extravagant excesses that thwarted Jodorowsky before he’d even started.

Timothée Chalamet does his usual whey-faced Edward Scissorhands impression as Paul Atreides, beset by dreams of Fremen girl Chani (Zendaya) on the planet Arrakis, also known as Dune. Here, the houses of Atreides and Harkonnen vie for control of the “spice” trade, a magical dust viewed by the desert-dwelling Fremen as “the sacred hallucinogen that prolongs life” but harvested by off-worlders as the highly prized (and thus highly priced) key to navigating interstellar travel.

Villeneuve and co-writers Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth conjure clear plot lines that accent the contemporary colonial parallels; this is a tale in which wealthy overlords battle over mineral resources in a vast sandy region that they find hostile and dangerous yet irresistibly profitable. There’s an almost comedic element to early scenes of Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac) arriving on Arrakis, heralded by the blaring of bagpipes. Meanwhile, Charlotte Rampling shrouds her admirably straight face behind sinister black lace as Reverend Mother Mohiam, attempting to divine whether Paul is actually the prophesied one (“I hope you live,” she says dismissively), while Rebecca Ferguson steals the show as Lady Jessica, torn between her desire to protect her son and the mysterious legacy of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood.

So much of Herbert’s novel has become part of the fabric of popular science fiction that at times Villeneuve’s film may seem deceptively derivative. Whether it’s the samurai-style swordplay and inner voices of Star Wars or the Matrix -like question of Paul’s foretold divinity, many riffs can feel familiar. What makes them new is Villeneuve’s astonishing visual sensibility. From ornithopters that flit like dragonflies to vast spaceships that glint in the mist, these are the kind of sights that Roy Batty rhapsodised about in his dying moments in Blade Runner .

Show-stealing Rebecca Ferguson with Oscar Isaac in Dune.

Yes, there are explosive action sequences and a booming Hans Zimmer score, but there are also low-key moments that reminded me of the mournful air of Jacques-Louis David’s 18th-century painting The Death of Marat . As for the giant sandworms that splash through deserts like eels through water, they are no longer silly but instead spectacular, with credit to visual effects supervisor Paul Lambert and his team.

Of course Lynch’s Dune contained its fair share of unforgettable sights too, from a steamy Sting posing with wings on his nethers to Kenneth McMillan’s pustular Baron Harkonnen floating absurdly through the incoherent madness of the movie. Villeneuve’s altogether better behaved version (for better or worse) dials down the crazy, with Stellan Skarsgård’s baron favouring the bald-head-stroking of Brando’s Colonel Kurtz, and even getting a haunting Apocalypse Now face-surfacing-through-watery-slime moment.

“Dreams make good stories,” says Jason Momoa’s Duncan Idaho, “but everything important happens when we’re awake.” That’s a line that strikes a chord in a film that, for all its unearthly vistas, still manages to make a surprising amount of sense. Whether that can be sustained remains to be seen – there are still mountainous narrative hurdles ahead – but right now, Villeneuve is riding the sinewy worm of Herbert’s sacred text with aplomb.

Science fiction and fantasy films
Mark Kermode's film of the week
Film adaptations
Denis Villeneuve
Timothée Chalamet
Oscar Isaac
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Dune review: Spectacular sci-fi adaptation is this generation’s Lord of the Rings trilogy

Denis villeneuve’s film is of such literal and emotional largeness that it overwhelms the senses, article bookmarked.

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Dir: Denis Villeneuve. Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya. Cert 15, 155 mins

In Frank Herbert’s Dune , we’re introduced to the fictional planet of Arrakis – an arid place, its winds so choked with sand that it seems impossible for any creature or person to dwell within it. And yet, from somewhere deep below, a rumble can be heard. Sandworms, both fierce and mountainous, move unseen but still felt. It’s an oddly accurate way to describe the fate of Herbert’s own book, widely recognised as one of the greatest pieces of science fiction, but absent from the popular consciousness to such a degree that George Lucas could pilfer its story of ancient religions and desert messiahs without much notice.

Meanwhile, Hollywood has come to consider the book as something of a poisoned chalice. Dune has already felled two great visionaries: Alejandro Jodorowsky’s psychedelic vision collapsed in on itself, while David Lynch’s typically absurdist take was reviled by critics. So there was an undeniable audacity to the decision by Warner Bros to revisit Herbert’s 1965 novel, placing it now in the hands of French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve and dividing it into two parts. But that risk has been richly rewarded.

Villeneuve’s Dune is the sandworm exploding out from the darkness below. It is a film of such literal and emotional largeness that it overwhelms the senses. If all goes well, it should reinvigorate the book’s legacy in the same way Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy did for JRR Tolkien’s work. Indeed, much like Jackson, Villeneuve has a certain pliancy to his vision that, in this case, has been his saving grace. Arrival and Prisoners , two of his previous films, may have possessed their own distinctive look but, when it came to Blade Runner 2049 , his belated sequel to Ridley Scott’s masterpiece, it spoke fluently in the language of what came before.

Dune , then, is firmly grounded in Herbert’s book. The author’s story of feudal nobles waging war over Arrakis, the only source of a powerful drug known as spice, is thick with conflicting ideas that academics are still unpacking today. For Villeneuve, his interests seem to lie mostly in where colonialism and religion collide, specifically in the weaponisation of belief in order to control a population. The film opens with a piece of narration from Chani (Zendaya), one of Arrakis’s indigenous Fremen, as she ponders over who will be the next to oppress her people. The cruel and ruthless Harkonnens have left their planet and given up control of the spice trade. In their place arrives House Atreides: Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac), his concubine Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), and their son Paul (Timothée Chalamet).

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Jessica is a member of the Bene Gesserit, a spiritual order of witch-like women who have served as the guiding hand of history. Through the careful intermixing of bloodlines, they hope to produce the “Kwisatz Haderach” – a mind so powerful that it could bridge space and time, past and future. It’s becoming increasingly clear that Paul himself may be the fated being in question.

Centuries before the events described in Herbert’s novel, there was a revolt that destroyed all computers. Patrice Vermette’s production work and Jacqueline West’s costumes have thus eschewed many of the conventions of futuristic design in favour of something far more archaeological and symbolic. Painted Japanese panels sit beside Byzantine robes, with just a touch of the mechanical eerieness of artist HR Giger, once hired for Jodorowsky’s film. Hans Zimmer’s score, so dread-filled that it’s frightening, includes both throat singing and Scottish bagpipes.

Could Paul (Timothée Chalamet) be the all-powerful ‘Kwisatz Haderach’?

Villeneuve allows the terrible, suffocating weight of Paul’s destiny to infect every frame of Dune – from the sterile, muted palette of his homeworld Caladan to the gold-flecked haze of Arrakis. Figures traverse across vast landscapes, while miniature swarms of spaceships gather like invading insects. That smallness allows, too, for some humanity. There is a fragility to these characters, upheld by a cast of actors all too smart to be swallowed up by portentousness. Chalamet will always have his sheepishness, Zendaya a cutting clarity to her voice.

But Dune is a complicated book. It’s also a complicated film. There’s a real question as to why the Fremen – whose language, dress, and culture are so directly inspired by the nomadic, Arabic Bedouin tribes – don’t feature any Middle Eastern and North African (Mena) actors in speaking roles, their leader instead played by Javier Bardem in a shemagh-inspired headscarf. The casting choice is poor, and will only cause further problems if Villeneuve is able to make the second part of this story. It’s a small, but noticeable chip in the paint when it comes to Dune – a work that’s otherwise of such intimidating grandeur that it’s hard to believe it even exists in the first place.

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Movie Reviews

Sci-fi epic 'dune' is an immersive but incomplete experience.

Justin Chang

Timothée Chalamet is a royal heir, and Rebecca Ferguson is his mother in Dune . Chiabella James/Warner Bros. Pictures hide caption

Timothée Chalamet is a royal heir, and Rebecca Ferguson is his mother in Dune .

Dune may not be the best new movie you'll see this year, but it's easily the most new movie you'll see this year. I left the theater feeling overwhelmed and a little parched, as though I'd spent two hours and 35 minutes being pummeled by hot desert winds and blinding sandstorms. The world of Frank Herbert's novel feels big and immersive here in a way it never has on-screen, with its futuristic spacecraft, cavernous fortresses and, of course, terrifying sand worms.

I've never been a huge fan of Denis Villeneuve's technically stupendous but oddly soulless movies, like Prisoners and Incendies , or bought into the notion that he's some kind of second coming of Stanley Kubrick. Still, there's no question that he's well prepared for this assignment as the director of moodily ambitious science fiction like Arrival , probably his best film, and Blade Runner 2049 .

With Dune , Villeneuve and his co-writers, Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth, have made a lucid adaptation of a book that's long been deemed unfilmable: The Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky famously abandoned his Dune movie in the '70s, and David Lynch 's 1984 version was deemed such a disaster that Lynch himself disowned it. There was also a bland 2000 miniseries that at least understood that the book might be too dense to squeeze into a single film.

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With 'dune,' denis villeneuve has made hollywood's definitive post-9/11 epic.

That may be why Villeneuve opted to split Dune into two movies. This first installment is a largely faithful retelling of a complicated story. Many millennia into the future, the universe has become a vast feudal society — a sort of interstellar Game of Thrones — in which noble houses control different planets. The most coveted is the desert planet Arrakis, or Dune, the source of a powerful, life-extending substance called spice.

As the story opens, there's been an imperial decree that control of Arrakis will be taken away from the treacherous House Harkonnen and handed over to its longtime rival, House Atreides. It's a triumph for the good Duke Leto Atreides ( Oscar Isaac ), though he and his advisers, played by actors including Jason Momoa and Josh Brolin , suspect they may be walking into a trap.

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'dune': a sweeping, spectacular spice-opera — half of one, anyway.

Timothée Chalamet is a great choice for the duke's son Paul, a coddled royal heir who could be the "Kwisatz Haderach" — that's Dune- speak for messiah figure or superbeing. For the most part, the movie keeps Herbert's made-up languages to a minimum.

Villeneuve wants even novices to be able to follow along. He plays up the book's ever-resonant subtexts of colonial oppression and ecological disaster. And he's cast even the smaller roles with magnetic actors, like Charlotte Rampling and Stellan Skarsgard, who keep you watching even when the plot begins to tilt into abstraction. Rebecca Ferguson brings a welcome warmth to Lady Jessica, Paul's mother, with whom he flees into the desert when House Atreides comes under attack. And Zendaya and Javier Bardem turn up among the Fremen, the brutally oppressed Indigenous people of Arrakis, who will play a larger role in part two.

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Doomed 'dune' was generations ahead of its time.

For sheer seat-rattling spectacle, Dune is undeniably staggering. The attack on House Atreides is staged with a brooding, quasi-Shakespearean grandeur. And then there are those giant sand worms winding their way through the story, so mysterious and mesmerizing to behold that you almost wouldn't mind being eaten by one, just to see what it's like.

But there's also something crucial missing . Much of the plot is advanced through elements of mind reading and mind control, so it's a shame that the movie never really gets inside its characters' heads. As with so many of Villeneuve's films, the visuals are stunning but the storytelling feels rudimentary; you get the sense that he's managed his source material without fully mastering it. In some ways, Lynch's Dune actually got closer to the mind-bending strangeness of Herbert's novel; it had a touch of visionary madness that this movie could use a little more of.

Even though Villeneuve's Dune is incomplete by design, there's something odd and unsatisfying about the point at which it slams to a halt. Still, it duly whets your appetite for part two, assuming it gets made; that will depend on whether part one does well enough at the box office. I hope Villeneuve gets the chance to finish what he started. This first Dune may not be a great movie — or even half a great movie — but Dune the planet is gorgeous enough that I wouldn't mind a return visit.

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Article updated on January 13, 2022 at 4:10 AM PST

Dune: Part One review - Stunningly weird sci-fi epic cuts out early

On Blu-ray and DVD now, Denis Villeneuve's star-studded adaptation is a sumptuous sci-fi experience.

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The best-selling books in the Dune series are as intriguing and ambiguous as a desert's shifting sands. So it makes sense a star-studded new movie adaptation from director Denis Villeneuve manages to be both hugely satisfying and incredibly frustrating. The 2021 Dune film is a tour de force of cinematic sci-fi, a star-studded yet deeply weird fantasy epic, and a thoughtful and thrilling movie experience.

Then it stops right in the middle.

Villeneuve's version of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel opens with a title reading "Dune: Part One." That's your first warning that the film isn't going to give you a lot of closure. It's certainly packed with ideas and stunning visuals and information by the spaceship-load, but it's also the setup for a story that's just getting going when out of nowhere the credits roll.

Having premiered to (mostly) critical acclaim at the Venice and New York Film Festivals, Dune hit theaters Thursday, Oct. 21, and debuted the same day on US streaming service HBO Max . It's now available to rent and buy online, or you can own it on DVD and Blu-ray.

Dune is already the biggest hit for Warner Bros. in the pandemic era , so Warner has confirmed Part Two will open in 2023 -- which is good, because Part One would've been an unsatisfying cinematic experience if the sequel never came.

The powerful Atreides and Harkonnen families are space aristos squabbling over the planet Arrakis, a desert world where the only thing more treacherous than the shifting sands is the backstabbing politics. Arrakis is the only source of spice, a substance that acts as the fuel for space travel in the Dune universe. On Arrakis, spice glitters in the very air, riches so intoxicating you can taste them.

Spice has a mysterious allure for Timothée Chalamet's young princeling Paul Atreides. He's got a lot going on: His dad ( Oscar Isaac ) is an upright duke teaching him to play the game of cosmic realpolitik; his mom ( Rebecca Ferguson ) is a superpowered space witch; he's plagued by horny teen dreams of a blue-eyed desert warrior ( Zendaya ); and he just might be an intergalactic messiah.

Josh Brolin and Oscar Isaac eye up a sequel as the new Dune movie arrives.

Paul is at the heart of this thumping space epic, which combines Shakespearian castle intrigue with wide-screen desert vistas, incendiary battle scenes and a cast of billions. In Villeneuve's hands, this version of Dune is a richly detailed and hugely evocative imagining filled with striking imagery. It's supremely and winningly odd.

The film juxtaposes fever-dream science-fantasy with medieval imagery: Sinister space nuns in billowing robes descend from looming spaceships; Interplanetary treaties are endorsed with wax seals beneath fluttering banners; Berserker armies make blood sacrifices before donning silent jetpacks. It's all faceless helmets and deep shadows as the action moves from rain-slicked granite to iridescent sand, set to a hypnotic and throbbing Hans Zimmer score of wailing choirs, electric drones, nerve-jangling percussion and great honking bwaarrrrps. And bagpipes.

Rebecca Ferguson and Oscar Isaac are concerned parents in Dune.

The rain-lashed home world of the upright House Atreides is perfect for moody pacing on wave-battered cliffs. The vaguely Catholic decor of that world includes a bullfighting motif, which suggests two separate but intertwined themes: a foolhardy fight against an unpredictable opponent, and a link to Spain that recalls Spanish conquistadors of old.

That link to ancient invaders highlights the timelessness of the urge to conquer and enslave, drawing a line from the past to the present. Dune's theme of ransacking desert resources has always resonated with western manipulation and exploitation of the rest of the world, from bygone days of colonialism to the Gulf War and the War on Terror. The conflict is explicitly grounded by Villeneuve and cinematographer Greig Fraser in the visual style of a modern war movie. Dragonfly-like aircraft thrum past the camera like Vietnam-era helicopter gunships as the air fills with distinctly 20th century radio chatter. All that's missing is Ride of the Valkyries on the soundtrack as Dune channels combat flicks from Apocalypse Now to Lawrence of Arabia to Black Hawk Down.

The film opens with an army suddenly withdrawing from Arrakis, and it's a chilling image in light of the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in recent weeks.

"Arrakis has seen men like you come and go," says one indigenous character. "Who will our next oppressor be?" asks the world-weary narrator.

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The conflict is explicitly driven by wealth, and it's fascinating to see a sci-fi movie grapple with the economic aspect of politics as well as the familiar interplanetary power struggles of Star Wars and Star Trek. House Atreides may be noble and the Harkonnens venal, but their nature is irrelevant in this galactic economy: No matter how they feel about it, they must fill their quotas. Space capitalism!

It's hardly a polemic, however. There are so many ideas flying about in this film that many are mentioned only once, and you're invited to develop your own thoughts on inequality, scarcity of resources, climate crisis, war, feudalism, space travel, dreams, parenthood, oneness with nature, and so much more. As if that wasn't enough to mull over, it's all wrapped up in a dense lore of multiple languages and strange terminology , which means multiple voice-overs explaining it all.

The weirdness of the sci-fi is also grounded by a limited range of color on screen. Beyond the blackness of space, the only colors in this universe are gray and beige. Don't get me wrong, Dune looks great, but outside of the fantastical design, the muted palette borders on drab.

Rebecca Ferguson gets weird in Dune.

The acting is also similarly muted: everybody is impassive and solemn and mutters the often incomprehensible dialogue in hushed tones. Like Villeneuve's previous films, it's dramatic and intense. But it's also rather one-note, allowing Jason Momoa to stand out, for example, just by showing that he's enjoying himself. The most dynamic range comes from Ferguson as the conflicted Atreides matriarch, embodying the emotional turmoil of a character who's both impassioned mother and scheming zealot.

As for the actor in the leading role, Chalamet's cheekbones and soulful eyes do most of the storytelling. Like Ryan Gosling in Blade Runner 2049 , he doesn't have a great deal to say, which makes his character either beguilingly ambiguous or vaguely defined. Is he dutiful or distracted? Is he a reluctant leader or ambitious plotter?

The young prince is troubled by visions of the future, and they're troubling for the viewer too. Some of those visions flash forward to a sequel, and frankly look more exciting than some of Part One's drawn-out sequences. With such an abrupt ending begging for a sequel, you might wonder if they shot the two films together. Nope: The sequel may go into production in late 2022 , which was far from guaranteed in the face of a pandemic and a streaming release potentially cannibalizing box office takings.

If you loved Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, then Dune is perhaps Denis Villeneuve at his Villeneuviest. If you love sweeping military sci-fi with a dash of weirdness thrown in, Dune will be your jam. The muted palette and performances won't be to everyone's taste, but I could spend a lot more time in this world -- when the sequel finally arrives in 2023, anyway.

Even if it doesn't deliver much of an ending, this new Dune is a hell of a beginning.

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Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Oscar Isaac, Timothée Chalamet, and Zendaya in Dune (2021)

A noble family becomes embroiled in a war for control over the galaxy's most valuable asset while its heir becomes troubled by visions of a dark future. A noble family becomes embroiled in a war for control over the galaxy's most valuable asset while its heir becomes troubled by visions of a dark future. A noble family becomes embroiled in a war for control over the galaxy's most valuable asset while its heir becomes troubled by visions of a dark future.

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Trivia Denis Villeneuve confirmed in a Vanity Fair article that his adaptation of Dune will be split into two films in order to ensure that the original story would be "preserved and not cut into a million pieces." However, contrary to the common practice of filming several installments back to back, only the first movie (which roughly covers the first half of the source novel) was greenlit and produced, with an optional sequel depending on how well the first film performed. A sequel was greenlit on the Tuesday after the film opened. According to production designer Patrice Vermette , the movie was originally supposed to end later in the story, but during pre-production, these final scenes were shifted to the sequel, meaning that some of the preparation for Dune: Part Two (2024) had already been done.
Goofs Despite several mentions of the intensity of the sun on Arrakis, no character ever wears any eye protection.

Lady Jessica Atreides : I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings obliteration. I will face my fear and I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past... I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

Crazy credits At the start of the film, a Sardaukar priest chants "Dreams are messages from the deep" as a prologue as it is subtitled onscreen.
Connections Featured in Black and White Sports Too: Dune Trailer Reaction! Official 2020 - Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin (2020)
Soundtracks Tooth of Shai Hulud Performed by Czarina Russell Written and Produced by Theo Green

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Dune review: A sci-fi masterpiece of substance and spectacle

Denis Villenueve over the past few years has quickly become one of Hollywood’s most reliably brilliant filmmakers, crafting one gorgeous, expertly shot movie after another that defies expectations and further solidifies his place among the best directors of his time. His latest, Dune , arrives with the highest level of hype so far (which is saying a lot for the director of Blade Runner 2049 ) and doesn’t do anything to endanger that trend — far from it, in fact.

Arrakis, revisited

Darkness and light, digging out the details.

Hero’s journey

Worth the wait

An epic, meticulously envisioned film that delivers on every facet of its potential while teasing the promise of more to come, Villeneuve’s Dune makes a strong argument for being the best movie yet from one of the industry’s most talented directors.

Based on author Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic of the same name, Dune is set in humanity’s far-flung future and casts Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides , the heir of House Atreides, one of several powerful noble families vying for control in a far-reaching galactic empire. When the Emperor assigns House Atreides control of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the most valuable resource in the universe that’s also necessary for interstellar travel, it ignites a series of events that endangers Paul’s family and threatens to dangerously shift the balance of power in the empire.

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The second big-screen adaptation of Herbert’s Dune (following David Lynch’s polarizing 1984 film), Villeneuve’s movie is intended to be the first of a two-part saga making use of modern visual effects and the director’s own unique visual aesthetic to bring to life a world filled with fantastic technology, wielders of powerful mental abilities, and the ever-present threat of giant sandworms capable of swallowing an entire building. Along with Chalamet in the film’s lead role, the cast of Dune also includes a long list of similarly celebrated actors, including Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem.

And yet, despite a crowded cast of high-profile actors and a story long considered impossible to adapt faithfully, Dune delivers on bringing the grand scale of its source material to bold, beautiful life on the screen, thanks to Villeneuve and the talented team he’s assembled both in front of, and behind, the camera.

Dune is a tale filled with opposing elements, whether it’s the nobility and humanity of House Atreides challenged by the cruelty of their rivals, House Harkonnen, or the constant juxtaposition of the carefully controlled, industrial architecture of the cities built on Arrakis against the sweeping, ever-changing wild desert outside the cities’ walls.

No matter which elements are at play at any point in Dune , they’re handled with an expert’s deft touch. Villeneuve’s vision captures the contrasting elements that shape the world of Dune with the subtlety that makes each film he works on as impressive for its artistic achievement as its storytelling. His meticulous attention to detail is on full display, and the thoroughness of his world-building doesn’t waste any time drawing you in to an environment that seems as fully realized as (and perhaps more so than) the one you imagine while reading Herbert’s novel.

From the gritty prowling grounds of drug cartels in 2015’s Sicario to the neon, cyberpunk dystopias of Blade Runner 2049 , Villeneuve has consistently offered audiences a ticket into worlds that are more than just backdrops. And Dune gives every grain of sand a sense of weight and every moment in the sun a sense of oppressive heat that makes Arrakis feels as unforgiving as the story demands. It’s a world where humanity shouldn’t thrive, and the film imparts that sense of unwelcomeness without any need for exposition.

While Herbert’s novel relies heavily on inner monologue for substantial portions of the story, Villeneuve makes creative use of dreams and other narrative devices to accomplish the same feat in the film. It’s a technique that could have easily distracted from the more linear story being told and confused the audience, but Villeneuve and the film’s writing team do an excellent job of making these elements feel organic to everything else going on in the moment. That’s no easy task — as evidenced by the trail of failed adaptations leading up to this one — and it’s an element that works so well in Villeneuve’s Dune that a more faithful translation of the story would probably seem unnecessarily confusing now.

That willingness to explore alternate ways to tell the same, fundamental story is a key ingredient in the film’s success at making Dune ‘s complicated — and yes, wonderfully weird at times — world not only more digestible, but also more visual. Thanks to the film’s talented cast, we don’t need to hear Paul grappling with some inner turmoil when we can see Chalamet bringing his angst, anger, and emotional arc to life with all of the skills that earned him an Oscar nomination already (for 2017’s Call Me By Your Name ).

Like so many of his prior projects, Villeneuve’s knack for striking the right balance between what needs to be told or shown explicitly and understanding what he can rely on his actors — or art team — to convey keeps Dune rolling along at a brisk pace with little letdown in tone or tension. And there’s also little need to pause for explanation of Arrakis, the political implications of what’s occurring there, or the machinations of the empire itself. Trusting the audience to parse the information they need from the story you’re telling is always a gamble, and it’s one that pays off for the film’s lengthy 155-minute running time.

Hero’s journey

While there isn’t a bad performance to be found in Dune , Chalamet’s portrayal of Paul is the one that carried the most consequence for the film, and fortunately, the actor has no trouble with any of the heavy lifting the role requires of him.

Paul Atreides is yet another character shaped by duality. He’s a thoughtful, brilliant tactician well-suited — and well-groomed — to lead those around him. He’s also a character at war within himself, constantly struggling to reconcile the responsibility that comes with his powers and the destiny he’s constantly reminded of with his desire to be his own person and lead a life outside the formality and structure of his family line. He’s simultaneously reckless and regulated, conscientious and impulsive, and those qualities in conflict are part of what makes him so interesting as a protagonist.

Chalamet’s performance covers a wide range over the course of Dune , almost imperceptibly subtle when called for, and a raging cascade of action and emotion at other points. Villeneuve’s camera does a wonderful job of capturing all of it and putting the audience’s focus where it needs to be in each moment of Chalamet’s portrayal of Paul, and the synergy they have in Dune is the sort that raises individual examples of great acting and camera work to another level collectively.

Herbert’s Dune was first published in 1965, and we’ve seen adaptation attempts come and go over the last five decades with varying levels of what could generously be called “success.” Some got the look right but never fully grasped the story, while others embraced the complexity of the story without devoting the necessary attention — or resources — to the fantastic world Herbert created. For fans of the novel (and the series it spawned), it’s been a mixed bag, so it’s no surprise that there hasn’t been a lot of optimism around potential Dune adaptations for a very, very long time.

With a history like that, it speaks volumes to Villeneuve’s achievement with Dune that the film’s scope, beauty, and execution come together in a way that makes all of those failed attempts and missed opportunities a little less frustrating. They can’t be that bad, after all, because those mistakes eventually led us — and Hollywood — to this moment, and this version of the film.

Ultimately, Villeneuve’s Dune is the adaptation of one of sci-fi’s greatest sagas that we’ve been waiting for all along.

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune will premiere in theaters October 22 and on HBO Max streaming service.

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The first weekend in March saw the release of Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve's epic sci-fi adventure film and the sequel to 2021's Dune. We pick up with Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), who have been assimilating into Fremen culture. While contemplating his messianic destiny, Paul seeks revenge against House Harkonnen for killing his father and destroying House Atreides. Only Paul can unite the Fremens and wage war on the Harkonnen. Yet, will he choose to do it?

Dune: Part Two deserves to be seen on the biggest screen to appreciate its greatness. After seeing Dune: Part Two in theaters, come home and watch a TV series to ride the sci-fi wave. Three great sci-fi shows to watch include a peculiar series by Alex Garland, an intergalactic saga based on a famous book, and a recent space-traveling show. Devs (2020)

After several years of hype and anticipation, Dune is back. Denis Villeneuve's mammoth adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel of the same name has gotten the sequel treatment, and Dune: Part 2 is receiving many of the same plaudits and praise that Part 1 received when it was released in 2021. It grossed over $80 million in its opening weekend, and is on the path to outdo its predecessor.

Now that we have two parts to compare, though, the natural question is which is better. While Part 2 is certainly more action forward, and a lot of the setup from Part 1 is paid off in the sequel, here are some reasons why Part 1 may still be the better movie. Dune gave us our first look at Arrakis Arrival To Arrakis | Dune (2021) [4K 60FPS]

Dune: Part Two is set to dominate theaters this weekend as hordes of moviegoers (who've endured the worst two months of movies in recent memory) eagerly return to the dusty world of Arrakis to catch up with Paul, Chani, Lady J(essica), and the rest of the gang. And who can blame them? The movie is already critically acclaimed and will surely be the blockbuster to watch in coming weeks.

Denis Villeneuve's big-budget sequel isn't the only sci-fi game in town, though. Streamers like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video have tons of sci-fi movies, but you have to pay for a subscription to access them. Do you want to watch great sci-fi movies that are just as good as Dune: Part Two for free? Digital Trends has compiled a list of three exceptional sci-fi films that are currently streaming on Tubi and YouTube. So sit back, tune in, and prepare to have your mind expanded beyond all comprehension. Logan's Run (1976)

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Dune First Reviews: The Breathtaking Adaptation Fans Have Been Waiting For

Critics say denis villeneuve's new take on frank herbert's classic novel is a nuanced, well-acted feast for the eyes and ears, even if it only leaves viewers wanting more..

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After decades of failed attempts and unsuccessful efforts, Frank Herbert’s Dune has been adapted into one of the most anticipated movies of the year — if not millennia. Does Denis Villeneuve ( Arrival ) finally do the classic science fiction novel(s) justice? The first reviews of his star-studded and visually epic new movie, also known as Dune: Part One , answer mostly in the affirmative. However, there’s a fairly uniform disappointment in how it ends without an ending.

Here’s what critics are saying about Dune :

Is this the Dune we’ve always wanted?

“Denis Villeneuve’s movie is the film interpretation that fans have been waiting to see for decades.” – Eric Eisenberg, Cinema Blend

“For science fiction devotees, especially those who have long-worshipped Frank Herbert’s dense tome…Villeneuve’s Dune is the adaptation you always dreamed of.” – Ben Travis, Empire Magazine

“[It] honors the source material in the most satisfying way possible. Dune 2021 is a modern-day work of art.” – Jimmy O, JoBlo’s Movie Emporium

“The missing link bridging the multiplex and the arthouse… Good heavens, what a film.” – Xan Brooks, Guardian

“For all its amazing imagery and A-list stars and very cool interpretations of the nerdier aspects of Herbert’s book, this version of Dune doesn’t fully coalesce.” – Scott Collura, IGN

Will it make us forget about David Lynch’s version?

“His Dune is the opposite of Lynch’s, methodical and cerebral, set against pastels and smoke and long stretches of moodiness.” – Roger Friedman, Showbiz 411

“Denis Villeneuve hasn’t succeeded where the likes of David Lynch and Alejandro Jodorowsky have already failed, [but] his Dune is at least uniquely dispiriting.” – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

“I’ll always love Lynch’s Dune , a severely compromised dream-work that (not surprising given Lynch’s own inclination) had little use for Herbert’s messaging. But Villeneuve’s movie is Dune .” – Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com

(Photo by Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures)

Is it a satisfying adaptation?

“This first chapter explores a very complex and detailed story with clarity and style. More importantly, it does so without sacrificing the impressive detail of Frank Herbert’s original vision.” – Jimmy O, JoBlo’s Movie Emporium

“Denis Villeneuve and his collaborators have cracked the code with their approach… extraordinary in its ability to directly translate the source material across mediums without compromise.” – Eric Eisenberg, Cinema Blend

“A more significant casualty is the book’s layered interiority, its skill at turning unspoken perceptions and motives into drama; the writers have managed this material without mastering it.” – Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

“If anything falls short of Herbert’s particular vision it’s the movie’s sandworms.” – Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly

Is it OK if you haven’t read the book?

“Thankfully, Dune isn’t particularly hard to follow.” – Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist

“Though there’s plenty to establish, Villeneuve makes surprisingly light work of it all… Dune is never as formidable as it threatens to be.” – Ben Travis, Empire Magazine

“The script does a good job with exposition without making it seem like EXPOSITION… but by the same token, there may not be any reason for you to be interested in Dune if you’re not a science-fiction-movie person anyway.” – Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com

“It’s not a film that requires any familiarity with the source material… Stretches in the early parts of Dune are a layman’s terms guide to Herbert’s incredibly intricate and uniquely realized universe.” – Adam Solomons, AwardsWatch

“If you come in not knowing the difference between a Holtzman shield and a hole in the floor, it’s a longer walk.” – Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly

“We don’t really learn much about individual characters in the film, making it hard to grasp or care about the stakes of the story.” – Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair

(Photo by Chiabella James/©Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.)

How is Denis Villeneuve as director?

“Villeneuve’s true talent is less in the staging of violence than in the queasy anticipation of it… That gift serves him well enough in Dune .” – Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

“Those who find Villeneuve to be a self-serious, humorless, and pretentious bore likely won’t be changing their minds anytime soon after Dune , but that just might be their loss.” – Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist

“To say I have not admired Villeneuve’s prior films is something of an understatement. But I can’t deny that he’s made a more-than-satisfactory movie of the book.” – Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com

“The unforgiving starkness will unsettle even some of Villeneuve’s greatest fans.” – Donald Clarke, Irish Times

“For all of Villeneuve’s awe-inducing vision, he loses sight of why Frank Herbert’s foundational sci-fi opus is worthy of this epic spectacle in the first place.” – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

“He’s an overloader, and only the keenest and most urgent of scripts can survive beneath that weight. Dune , unfortunately, is not one of those.” – Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair

How does it compare to his other work?

“It’s an arthouse blockbuster in the vein of his Blade Runner 2049 , but even less concerned with commercial appeal, which is admirably bold.” – Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist

“Much like the haunting Blade Runner 2049 , the director has taken the time to explore numerous characters without sacrificing the main story and themes.” – Jimmy O, JoBlo’s Movie Emporium

“Like Blade Runner 2049 and especially Arrival , Dune is another unusually philosophical speculative fiction that ponders the difficulties of language and coexistence.” – Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

“If you loved Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 , then Dune is perhaps Denis Villeneuve at his Villeneuviest.” – Richard Trenholm, CNET

Is it reminiscent of anything else?

“Think of it as Game of Thrones in space or Star Wars if it never got off Tatooine.” – Steve Pond, The Wrap

“Impressively ambitious in scale, like Villeneuve mashing up the worlds of Star Wars and Game of Thrones .” – Brian Truitt, USA Today

“Arguably [many of its elements are] all things that Star Wars features too, but just much more dense, sophisticated, and less child-like.” – Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist

“ Dune feels most reminiscent of The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring .” – Ben Travis, Empire Magazine

“Much like the semi-recent classic Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Rings in the LOTR trilogy, this is only the beginning of the story… [and] Denis Villeneuve has created one of the best fantasy feature since Peter Jackson’s journey into Middle Earth.” – Jimmy O, JoBlo’s Movie Emporium

“Historical comparisons are of no use. None of us has been anywhere like this before. They can put that on the poster.” – Donald Clarke, Irish Times

“It sets a new standard for modern sci-fi epics.” – Germain Lussier, io9.com

Is there enough action for mainstream audiences?

“ Dune is consistently gripping and plot driven.” – Adam Solomons, AwardsWatch

“Even though it may be a slow burn, the action set pieces do not disappoint, neither does the filmmaker sacrifice the subtle themes and ideas explored throughout.” – Jimmy O, JoBlo’s Movie Emporium

“The pacing is perfect. Villeneuve makes you wait just long enough, so when the action moves to Arrakis you’re just as eager to venture into the desert as Paul.” – Ben Travis, Empire Magazine

“This version of Dune sometimes feels as if it aims to impress you more than entertain you… but it’s also a formidable cinematic accomplishment.” – Steve Pond, The Wrap

“It feels like a drag in its back half.” – Scott Collura, IGN

How are the visuals?

“Cinematographer Grieg Fraser has outdone himself from frame to frame, set piece to set piece, creating jaw dropping pieces of art that are impressionistic, sensational, and other worldly.” – Roger Friedman, Showbiz 411

“It’s all a feast for the eyes. The visuals are mind-blowing.” – Jimmy O, JoBlo’s Movie Emporium

“Aesthetically, Dune is pretty damn monumental and enveloping, and for audiences that potentially may find the plot confusing, the film still works on a deeply experiential, visceral level.” – Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist

“The sense of scale conjured up is, from moment to moment, frequently astonishing.” – Ben Travis, Empire Magazine

“ Dune looks great, but outside of the fantastical design, the muted palette borders on drab.” – Richard Trenholm, CNET

And how does it sound?

“ Dune [is] a symphony for the ears as well as a feast for the eyes.” – Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

“ Dune is also an auditory journey, not only featuring enveloping sound editing, but one of the best scores Hans Zimmer has ever composed.” – Eric Eisenberg, Cinema Blend

“The visual vastness is matched by a Hans Zimmer score that is, to use a technical term, full-Zimmer.” – Ben Travis, Empire Magazine

“Composer Hans Zimmer inspires great awe with a booming score, but not one BRAAAM in sight, thankfully.” – Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist

What is the overall experience like?

“As a visual and visceral experience, Dune is undeniably transporting. As a spectacle for the mind and heart, it never quite leaves Earth behind.” – Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

“ Dune is certainly capable of transporting us to its alien landscapes via its many technical achievements… There is no detail spared in immersing us in this fantastical world.” – Scott Collura, IGN

“You feel like you’re looking into a window across space and time… The line between fiction and reality fades from your mind, and it’s breathtaking.” – Eric Eisenberg, Cinema Blend

“Villeneuve’s Dune is the sandworm exploding out from the darkness below. It is a film of such literal and emotional largeness that it overwhelms the senses.” – Clarisse Loughrey, Independent

How are the performances?

“Chalamet confirms on a grand scale what arthouse audiences have long known about his charisma.” – David Crow, Den of Geek

“Timothee Chalamet once again gives another exceptional performance.” – Jimmy O, JoBlo’s Movie Emporium

“Among the uniformly excellent performances, Timothée Chalamet holds his own in his first blockbuster leading role.” – Ben Travis, Empire Magazine

“Chalamet, playing it earnestly and effectively, is perfectly cast here, and both Ferguson and Isaac are excellent, as is Skarsgård.” – Pete Hammond, Deadline

“Everyone flawlessly gets at the core of who they are playing. Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson and Oscar Isaac are the triumvirate that lead the cast, and they are all phenomenal.” – Eric Eisenberg, Cinema Blend

“Momoa, in particular, bringing a swagger and excitement beyond anything we’ve seen from him before.” – Germain Lussier, io9.com

“The actors here all give good, serious performances, but in a sense it isn’t an actor’s film, because they are playing archetypes.” – Catherine Bray, Film of the Week

“No one has much time to distinguish themselves, all functioning as mere fleshy cogs in Villeneuve’s churning machine.” – Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair

Is it a fun movie?

“The script benefits from injecting occasional bits of humor into the universe-shaping events of the film.” – Scott Collura, IGN

“ Dune is so aesthetically rich and monolithic that a few brief, misguided stabs at Marvel-style humor early on feel almost like blasphemy.” – Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly

“If what you love most about Marvel is the quips, you might not like Dune very much…it is deadly serious…a relief I hadn’t realized I needed.” – Catherine Bray, Film of the Week

“While Villeneuve has been and likely remains one of the most humorless filmmakers alive, the novel wasn’t a barrel of laughs either, and it’s salutary that Villeneuve honored the scant light notes in the script.” – Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com

“ Dune lumbers with such aloof, uninviting self-seriousness that it’s hard to love, hard to even celebrate as an assured piece of tentpole authorship.” – Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair

“My only grievance is that hardly anyone in this film ever smiles…everyone in Dune is grimly serious. You kind of wish someone would shake Paul’s hand with a joy buzzer.” – Roger Friedman, Showbiz 411

Does it feel unfinished?

“The film is ultimately a long and overwrought prologue — a prelude to action rather than its own autonomous story.” – Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair

“The real meal doesn’t really begin until Part Two , and that’s probably one of the minor disappointments of its inconclusive finale.” – Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist

“It does wind up feeling incomplete… like the serving of a decadent and delicious appetizer that comes out while the epic entrée to come is still braising in the kitchen.” – Eric Eisenberg, Cinema Blend

“It feels so completely sure of itself and so legitimately stunning, that it’s a huge shame that the next chapter is in fact subject to the whims of the marketplace… Surely, there has to be more.” – Catherine Bray, Film of the Week

“To be left dangling without Dune: Part Two would be a particular heartbreak. Here’s hoping we won’t only be seeing it in our dreams.” – Ben Travis, Empire Magazine

Is it difficult to assess this first chapter on its own?

“It will require reassessment when the rest of the director’s vision is revealed – and if there is a movie god, we’ll see that happen sooner rather than later.” – Eric Eisenberg, Cinema Blend

“What could happen in the future isn’t something you can think about when critiquing a movie though. There’s this movie, this story, and if it doesn’t work on its own, that would problem. It’s not a problem here.” – Germain Lussier, io9.com

Dune is in theaters and on HBO Max on October 22, 2021.

On an Apple device? Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Apple News .

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Dune Part One Review: A Sci-Fi Epic From Denis Villeneuve That Soars Beyond Expectations

Dune is directed by denis villeneuve and stars timothée chalamet, rebecca ferguson, oscar isaac, and zendaya.

Review: Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is an ambitious and visually stunning sci-fi epic that successfully brings Frank Herbert’s classic novel to the big screen. With a star-studded cast led by Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, and Zendaya, this film is a must-see for fans of the genre and those looking for a thrilling cinematic experience.

Dune review with Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Javier Bardem and Timothee Chalamet.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve , Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides ( Timothée Chalamet ), a young nobleman who must travel to the desert planet of Arrakis to oversee the production of a valuable resource called “spice.” Along the way, he becomes embroiled in a conflict between rival factions vying for control of the planet, leading to a thrilling and epic adventure.

The film’s world-building is impeccable, with every detail carefully crafted to bring the universe of Dune to life. The desert landscapes of Arrakis are breathtakingly beautiful, and the production design is top-notch, with the intricate costumes and sets immersing viewers in this fantastical world.

Denis Villeneuve’s direction is masterful, as he skillfully balances action, drama, and spectacle to create a truly cinematic experience. The action sequences are thrilling and well-choreographed, while the quieter moments allow the characters and their relationships to shine.

As an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic novel, Dune is faithful to the source material while also making some necessary changes to bring the story to the big screen. The film’s screenplay, written by Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, and Eric Roth, captures the complex themes and ideas of the novel while also streamlining the narrative for a wider audience.

The film’s ensemble cast is excellent, with Timothée Chalamet delivering a standout performance as Paul Atreides. Chalamet brings depth and nuance to the character, making him both a relatable protagonist and a compelling hero. Rebecca Ferguson is also outstanding as Paul’s mother, Lady Jessica, bringing strength and vulnerability to the role.

Oscar Isaac is perfectly cast as Duke Leto Atreides, Paul’s father, and he delivers a powerful performance that anchors the film’s emotional core. Zendaya is also impressive in her limited screen time as Chani, a mysterious and alluring character who becomes important to Paul’s journey.

As a science-fiction epic, Dune ranks among the best of the genre, with its sweeping scope and grand vision. The film is an epic in every sense of the word, with a sense of scale and grandeur that is truly awe-inspiring. It’s a film that demands to be seen on the big screen, where its stunning visuals and breathtaking set-pieces can be fully appreciated.

Reviews for Films like Dune (2021)

With its impressive visuals, stunning performances, and gripping story, Dune is undoubtedly one of the best films of 2021. It’s a film that will appeal to both sci-fi fans and general audiences, with its universal themes of family, power, and destiny resonating with viewers of all ages.

As an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel, Dune is a faithful and thoughtful interpretation of the source material. The film captures the essence of Herbert’s work, while also making some necessary changes to create a cohesive cinematic experience. Fans of the novel will appreciate the film’s attention to detail and respect for the source material.

With all of its impressive qualities, it’s no surprise that Dune has been a box office success, grossing over $400 million worldwide. Its critical and commercial success bodes well for the future of the Dune franchise , with a sequel already in the works.

Dune is a cinematic masterpiece that delivers on all fronts. It’s a visually stunning, epic sci-fi adventure that boasts excellent performances and a gripping story. It’s a faithful adaptation of the source material that also makes necessary changes to bring the story to a wider audience. With its impressive box office performance and critical acclaim, Dune is a must-see film that will undoubtedly go down as one of the best sci-fi epics of the last few decades. Don’t miss it!

Genre: Adventure , Sci-Fi

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Dune Cast and Credits

Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides

Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica Atreides

Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto Atreides

Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck

Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen

Dave Bautista as Beast Rabban Harkonnen

Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Dr. Liet Kynes

Stephen McKinley as Thufir Hawat

Zendaya as Chani

Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho

Javier Bardem as Stilgar

David Dastmalchian as Piter de Vries

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Writers: Eric Roth , Denis Villeneuve , Jon Spaihts , Frank Herbert

Cinematography: Greig Fraser

Editor: Joe Walker

Composer: Hans Zimmer

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Steven spielberg reviews ‘dune 2’: “one of the most brilliant sci-fi films i’ve ever seen”.

Spielberg lavishes praise on Denis Villeneuve for 'Dune: Part Two,' and was particularly impressed by one scene in particular.

By James Hibberd

James Hibberd

Writer-at-Large

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(L-r) ZENDAYA as Chani and TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as Paul Atreides in “DUNE: PART TWO”

Steven Spielberg has weighed in on Dune: Part Two , and the iconic filmmaker had some strong praise for director Denis Villeneuve’s sequel — and for one scene in particular.

The duo appeared together on DGA’s Director’s Cut podcast, where the filmmaker behind sci-fi classics Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. The Extra Terrestrial heaped praise on the Dune and Arrival director.

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Film Festivals , Films , Venice Film Festival

Dune (2021) Film Review: Chalamet Shines in Immersive Adaptation

Serena Seghedoni
September 3, 2021

Chalamet shines in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (2021), both an immersive cinematic epic and a remarkable achievement in cinematography and sound design.

Initially scheduled to be released in 2020 and postponed many times due to the pandemic, Dune (2021) has been on everyone’s radar for over a year, and with good reason. Ever since the release of David Lynch’s 1984 misfire and an ambitious but flawed 2000 television miniseries , as well as the failed release of Jodorowsky’s promising adaptation , fans of Frank Herbert’s acclaimed novels have been waiting a long time for someone to bring Dune to the big screen while preserving the scale and scope of what continues to be one of the most beloved and influential sagas in sci-fi history .

And, with master storyteller Denis Villeneuve ( Arrival , Blade Runner 2049 ) at the helm, a stellar cast, and a team of creatives of the likes of composer Hans Zimmer ( Inception ), director of photography Greig Fraser ( Zero Dark Thirty ), production designer Patrice Vermette ( Arrival, Sicario ), editor Joe Walker ( Blade Runner 2049 ), and Oscar-winning visual effects supervisors Paul Lambert ( First Man ) and Gerd Nefzer ( Blade Runner 2049 ), it won’t come as a surprise that Dune is just as enthralling, epic and stunning as we hoped it would be. Though Villeneuve’s latest film isn’t, at times, entirely satisfying narratively speaking, it’s certainly the best adaptation of the novel to date , as well as a technically flawless, incredibly immersive experience whose impressive world-building requires you to watch it on the biggest screen possible.

Set thousands of years in the future, Dune is a story that touches upon many themes and takes place in an interstellar society where different civilizations are fighting to gain control of “the most valuable substance in the universe” — a rare and highly valued natural resource they call the Spice, which can influence anything from space travel to commerce, knowledge, and even human existence itself. But Dune ‘s universe is as complex as it is full of planets, whose inhabitants come with different sets of motives and purposes: there’s the desert planet of Arrakis , where the Spice can be harvested, but that is made inhospitable by elements that vary from unbearable heat and frequent sandstorms to terrifying, deadly “sandworms” that tend to show up at the worst possible time. Living on Arrakis are an indigenous, spiritual human civilization called the Fremen , as well as many wealthy “oppressors” that take turns colonising it, sent by the emperor to harvest the Spice.

When Dune begins, an imperial decree has just made Duke Leto of the House of Atreides (Oscar Isaac, of the Star Wars franchise and The Card Counter ), from planet Caladan, the new governor of Arrakis, and that causes friction with the previous residents of the planet, the Harkonnens , rivals of the Atreides. Led by Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård, of Chernobyl and Mamma Mia! ) and eager to regain control of the planet, the former colonisers start plotting to defeat Duke Leto and his family — the Duke’s concubine Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson, of Mission: Impossible – Fallout ), who’s part of the Bene Gesserit, an ancient religious order of women with superhuman mental and physical abilities, and their son, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet, of Call Me by Your Name and Little Women ), who shares her mother’s powers and who also happens to be destined to save the universe and ensure the future of humanity.

loud and clear reviews Dune Venice Film Festival

Just like the book, the film begins with Duke Leto, Jessica and Paul embarking on a trip to Arrakis with swordmaster Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa, of Aquaman and Game of Thrones ), and follows them on a journey where nothing and no one are quite what they seem. As the Atreides attempt to forge alliances and fight for their own survival, Paul tries to decode a series of visions that mainly involve a mysterious Fremen girl whom we’ll later come to know as Chani (Zendaya, of Malcolm & Marie and HBO’s Euphoria ), and to master the “Voice,” the power of the Bene Gesserit, in the attempt to become the “mind powerful enough to breach space and time, past and future” that many believe to be coming to save the world.

This brief introduction doesn’t even begin to describe the complexities of Dune ‘s universe , a world made of a myriad of characters and exploring many themes, from religion and politics to environmental change, all while following a young man’s journey of discovery of his own identity, and a quest to fulfill his destiny that sees him battling against powerful, unknown forces. In fact, Dune ‘s world is so intricate and full of characters, locations and unknown terminology that one of the issues with past adaptations of the novels was that the uninitiated struggled to understand the universe’s dynamics and rules: that was the case with David Lynch’s film , where the initial lack of explanations on the nature of the Sand and the characters’ role within the narrative made it hard for people who hadn’t read the novel to follow our hero’s quest.

But what’s really impressive about Dune (2021) is that it’s surprisingly easy to follow : co-writers Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts ( Prometheus ) and Eric Roth ( Forrest Gump ) cleverly weave information into the narrative in a way that ensures we’re immediately able to grasp the essential facts we need to know about a world that never fails to be absorbing and intriguing, as there’s just as much mystery and action to keep us entertained throughout. In fact, it’s easy not to notice that Dune is nearly three hours long, as it’s so effortless to get drawn into an utterly fascinating world we can’t wait to explore, made all the more compelling by the film’s sound design and cinematography, as well as a series of memorable performances that will have your eyes glued to the screen.

As a fan of the novels, it has been a lifelong dream of composer Hans Zimmer ( Inception ) to score a Dune adaptation, and, when the opportunity came along, he rose to the occasion by crafting an unforgettable, instantly iconic score that highly contributes to giving the film a more defined identity, as well as making it more immersive and affecting on an emotional level. Dark, ominous cues make the tension rise and the action become more urgent, while percussions draw us into the film’s mysteries; the use of certain notes often gives the film an otherworldly quality, and a feeling of suspension of time, while a chorus of female voices makes everything more solemn and mystical, reflecting the power of the film’s female characters.

And, if Dune ‘s score and sound design give the movie more depth and meaning, it’s the film’s stunning world-building that gives us a world that you’ll instantly recognise if you’ve read the book, and that you’ll be immediately drawn to even if you haven’t. While the sci-fi components of the film, such as the suits worn by the Fremen, the sandstorm and a series of buildings, ships and props, are somewhat reminiscent of Arrival , the gorgeous, desaturated palette that defines Arrakis gives us plenty of meditative, quiet moments, while the mystical quality of Paul’s visions reflect his mental state, as well as the journey that’s ahead of him.

Needless to say, Paul couldn’t have been played by anyone else but Timothée Chalamet , who inhabits the role with incredible confidence, showing us a character in constant evolution who does what he can to control the forces (and Voices) inside him without losing his own self, all while having to unexpectedly take on a new role that’s bigger than himself. If the film’s screenplay gives Paul plenty of epic, memorable lines, it’s Chalamet who brings his character to life by letting raw emotion through at exactly the right times, showing us a “lost boy hiding in a hole in the ground” who inevitably becomes the leader he was meant to be — which makes for highly rewarding, meaningful storytelling. Sharing many scenes together, Chalamet and Rebecca Ferguson complement each other perfectly, and the chemistry between them is undeniable.

Ferguson excels at playing one of the most complex characters in the film, showing us a woman who’s constantly conflicted between her duties as a sorceress and as a mother, and giving us more than one goosebump-worthy scene while also conveying the wisdom of someone who’s seen and experienced a great deal during her lifetime. Chalamet and Ferguson are the film’s standouts, but every single cast member gives us incredibly committed performances that help give depth to their characters: Oscar Isaac moves us more than once as Duke Leto, one of the film’s most likeable characters, while Javier Bardem ( No Country for Old Men ) imbues enigmatic Fremen leader Stilgar with passion, gravity and raw power with facial expressions alone.

Zendaya ‘s body acting draws us to her character even if she hardly ever speaks, Stellan Skarsgård never fails to terrify us as Baron Harkonnen, and Dave Bautista (the Guardians of the Galaxy films and Avengers: Endgame ) and Josh Brolin ( Milk and Avengers: Infinity War ) are just as fearsome as Harkonnen’s nephew and war master. Among the supporting characters, the standout is Sharon Duncan-Brewster ( Sex Education ), who plays ecologist Liet-Kynes (who has been gender-swapped from the novels), one of Dune ‘s most fascinating and intriguing characters, made unforgettable by the intensity with which Duncan-Brewster delivers her lines.

When I left today’s screening of Dune at the Venice Film Festival , I was mesmerised by the craft on display, from the film’s achievements on a technical level to a series of highly believable, committed performances that, alone, make the film so very compelling and absorbing. Yet, I found that something was missing, and that something has to do with the film’s narrative . While it’s no secret that the director would like there to be a Part 2 to the film, it’s also hard not to notice that Dune would feel absolutely incomplete if it were to stand on its own, as not only does the entire film revolve around a conflict that isn’t resolved by the time it ends, but the ending itself feels like it should be a beginning, and it can be very frustrating to get invested in a story that ultimately leaves you with no answers and no real resolution.

Only time will tell what Dune will turn out to be, as a final product, and whether or not it will be developed into something more than a standalone film: for now, we can enjoy watching an incredibly well-crafted adaptation that’s faithful to the source material while also breathing new life into it, and an immersive, epic cinematic journey that will absolutely leave you aching for more .

Dune premiered at the 2021 Venice Film Festival on September 3, 2021 and is now available to watch on digital and on demand.

TAGS: adaptations , Charlotte Rampling , Dave Bautista , Denis Villeneuve , genre: sci-fi , Max , Oscar Isaac , Stellan Skarsgård , Timothée Chalamet , Zendaya
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DVD & Streaming

Dune: Part One

Action/Adventure , Drama , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

October 22, 2021
Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides; Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica Atreides; Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto Atreides; Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho; Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen as Stephen McKinley Henderson as Thufir Hawat; Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck; Javier Bardem as Stilgar; Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Dr. Liet Kynes; Chen Chang as Dr. Wellington Yueh; Dave Bautista as Beast Rabban Harkonnen; David Dastmalchian as Piter de Vries; Zendaya s Chani; Charlotte Rampling as Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam; Babs Olusanmokun as Jamis; Golda Rosheuvel as Shadout Mapes

Home Release Date

December 3, 2021
Denis Villeneuve

Distributor

Warner Bros.

Movie Review

Duke Leto Atreides knows he’s walking into a trap.

But he has little choice.

The galaxy’s Emperor has instructed the Duke’s noble House Atreides to assume stewardship of the most important planet in the empire: Arrakis. Dune , the Desert Planet, as it’s known.

The sands of Arrakis blow hot and barren across its vast wasteland. But the sand also mingles with the universe’s most precious commodity: spice. The spice of Dune is not only a powerful hallucinogenic; it also enables Spacing Guild Navigators to bend time and space, making interstellar travel possible. Without the spice, there is no space travel—no trade, no empire, no anything.

Nothing matters more than spice.

Receiving Arrakis would seem to be a great boon to House Atreides. But the planet’s oversight is being taken from the House Harkonnen, led by its grotesquely bloated Baron. He’s none too happy to have his monopoly given to another House—even if that supposed gift is part of a bigger plan on the part of the emperor to wipe out the increasingly formidable House Atreides.

Indeed, the myriad armies of House Atreides—led by the fierce soldiers Gurney Halleck and Duncan Idaho—have barely arrived in the capital city of Arrakeen when the trap begins to snap shut. And brutally so. It seems the Duke’s lineage—represented by his son Paul, who’s barely come of age—will be wiped out.

But all is not as it seems on Dune. Beneath the shifting, sweltering sands, harbored in island-like rock outcroppings in the deep desert, an indigenous people known as the Fremen await the coming of a messiah. It’s been foretold that he will lead them into glorious battle against their outworld oppressors, securing their freedom.

Whispers among the people even suggest that young Paul Atreides could be that long-awaited savior and deliverer.

If, that is, the heat, the Harkonnens and the sandworms don’t kill him first.

Positive Elements

Duke Leto is a man and leader of nobility and honor. Morally speaking, House Atreides is the polar opposite of House Harkonnen. Leto knows that the emperor’s “gift” is not what it seems; he knows the Harkonnens quite likely lie in wait for him; yet he obliges his emperor and prepares to receive the stewardship of Arrakis anyway—bravely taking a place of leadership on a brutal world surrounded by equally brutal rivals.

The Duke deeply loves his son, Paul. Speaking of leadership, he tells Paul, “A great man doesn’t seek to lead. He’s called to it. And he answers.” Then the Duke adds, “And if your answer is no, you’ll still be the only thing I ever needed you to be: my son.”

Paul has, not surprisingly, has received the best martial tutelage from the legendary warriors Duncan Idaho and Gurney Halleck. Indeed, both of these men strive to train, equip and encourage Paul to be prepared for any threat. At one point, Gurney charges into hand-to-hand combat training with the young man after Paul says he’s not in the mood. “Mood?!” Gurney exclaims. “What’s mood got to do with it? You fight when necessity arises, no matter what the mood.” And as the Harkonnens bring the fight to the House Atreides, Gurney and Duncan both serve heroically in defense of their liege.

The Duke has a longstanding love relationship with Lady Jessica, his concubine. Indeed, the Duke regrets never having married her (which he says to Jessica at one point). Jessica’s loyalty to and love for Paul likewise is as fierce as Duke Leto’s.

The Fremen, we learn, are a mysterious, semi-nomadic desert people who live by their own code of honor. At times it’s a deadly one, as we’ll see below.

One character, Dr. Liet Kynes, is an Imperial Planetologist who also serves as the Judge of the Change—the handover of power between the Harkonnens and the Atreides. She is supposed to be steadfastly neutral, but she, too, ultimately proves a heroic character when the Harkonnens attack.

In fact, there’s no shortage of heroism here all around—from the Duke, to Paul, to Jessica, to nearly all of the major Atreides characters—as they try to resist getting caught in the trap that’s been set for them.

Spiritual Elements

Two distinct streams of spiritual belief mingle throughout the story of Dune .

Jessica is a member of a shadowy-but-influential female religious order known as the Bene Gesserit . But she’s sought to train Paul, illicitly, in the ways of her religious tradition.

The Bene Gesserit have a variety of abilities. First, they use something called the Voice, which exerts powerful mind control over those who hear it. Second, we hear whispers of these soothsayers ability to foresee the future—as well as of their limited ability and boundless determination to shape it.

The Bene Gesserit form an organized religious force that plays an important role in sustaining and affirming the Emperor’s power. But it’s equally clear that the Bene Gesserit have their own agenda at work, too. As a whole, they’re not depicted as a force for good, but a group to be feared and distrusted because of their shadowy, duplicitous ways.

We also hear a few whispered mentions of a prophesied Bene Gesserit male leader known as the Kwisatz Haderach. The chief leader of the Bene Gesserit accuses Jessica of trying to give birth to this foretold leader.

Jessica quotes a famous Bene Gesserit proverb: “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

In some respects, you could perhaps identify loose narrative parallels between the Bene Gesserit’s depiction here and the medieval Catholic Church’s intertwined (and sometimes compromised) relationship with political powers in the Middle Ages. The Bene Gesserit sect has largely been corrupted by power but is ruthlessly determined to hang on to it.

The second religious thread in the story is the Fremen’s religion. These desert-dwelling people’s faith is depicted in a more pure and holistic way. If the Bene Gesserit are corrupt, the Fremen seem to be true believers in their convictions. The Fremen’s desert garb, their speech and their patterns of religious devotion also bear superficial resemblance to Islam and Arabic desert culture. The Duke’s warrior Duncan Idaho says of the Fremen’s martial ferocity, “They fight like demons.”

The Fremen, as mentioned above, have a prophecy about a leader who come from off-world to liberate them. Paul, some of theme think, could be that longed-for spiritual liberator.

Spice is described as a hallucinogenic agent. That said, for the Fremen (whose eyes are blue due to consuming it), it takes on a more mystical capacity than simply being a recreational drug. Paul has several spice-induced visions, as well as prophetic dreams of meeting a young Fremen woman named Chani. Spice is also integral to the Spacing Guild’s ability pilot spacecraft between worlds.

The Fremen seem almost to worship Dune’s great sandworms, whom they call “Makers.” Someone says, “Blessed be the Maker and his water.” Another character exclaims elsewhere, “God in heaven.”

Sexual Content

Several women wear translucent, clingy gowns with, apparently, not much on beneath. Paul dreams of kissing Chani. The Duke and Lady Jessica are shown, fully clothed, in bed together. Paul’s shown shirtless. A man who’s been drugged is also naked and sitting in a chair. We see the entirety of his bare side, but nothing critical. One scene also depicts quite a lot of the Baron’s prodigiously bare flesh.

Violent Content

Violence—and the threat of violence—permeates the world of Arrakis.

We see some brutal hand-to-hand combat in a massive battle on the planet. The body count here is high, and more than once we see blood-slicked swords in soldiers’ hands. That battle also includes an air-to-surface bombardment of the capital city, including the use of powerful explosives to fully breach the shield wall surrounding the city’s vulnerable entrance.

The intensity of this battle is still within PG-13 territory, but it pushes further in its grimness and blood-stained weaponry than most comparably rated sci-fi, fantasy or superhero flicks. It has a grim and foreboding feel to it that makes the combat here feel much more realistic and tragic. That’s especially true when Baron Harkonnen’s barbaric henchman, Beast Rabban, beheads a line of soldiers before him. (We see the blade begin to fall, but not the actual executions.)

Paul’s mother is threatened by a group of Harkonnen soldiers who talk of raping her before she brutally kills all of them. One of Paul’s visions repeatedly pictures a young woman with blood on her hands. Paul has dreams of—and is haunted by—images of him leading a religious holy war in which his warriors kill myriad people on different planets, all in his name.

Multiple other characters are stabbed and killed, and we see their pained expressions in the process. Likewise, Paul is forced to fight an honor duel of sorts. Paul and the man battle to the death.

The older priestess also gives Paul Atreides a test involving a box into which he places his hand. If he removes his hand for any reason before she allows him to do so, she has a poisoned needle at his neck called the gom jabbar to kill him. The test is to see whether he is a “human” or an “animal.” The latter, the priestess says, will chew off his leg to escape a trap. A human won’t do that. Paul leaves his hand in the box, even though he’s certain it’s being burned up by fire.

Someone unleashes an aerosol poison that kills many people. Tiny, syringe-like drones seek to assassinate people. Enormous, toothy sandworms attack (and don’t leave anything behind). A light aircraft crashes after flying into the teeth of a duststorm. Multiple characters are executed.

Crude or Profane Language

Duncan Idaho quotes a Fremen saying: “To shower, you scrub your a– with sand.” We hear single uses each of the s-word, “d–n” and “my god.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

We hear references to spice as noted above.

Other Negative Elements

Paul repeatedly lies about prophetic dreams he’s been having. There’s a great betrayal that makes the Harkonnen’s invasion of Arrakeen possible.

Frank Herbert’s epic Dune , published in 1965, is (arguably) to sci-fi what Lord of the Rings is to fantasy. This sweeping saga encompasses a riveting tale of politics, revolution, religion, love, loyalty and interstellar civil war as one young man slowly dons the mantle of messiah that has been thrust upon him.

If that sounds like a lot to cram into one movie, it is. So be forewarned: This story only makes it through about half of Herbert’s first book in the series—and that after some 2 hours and 35 minutes of run time.

Dune has infamously resisted translation to the cinematic format. The 1984 version, directed by none other than David Lynch, has been both mocked and adored—the latter for its pure absurdity at certain points. A miniseries in 2000 paid closer attention to the source material yet largely failed to generate adulation among the Dune faithful.

And now Canadian director Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049, Arrival) has stepped up to the plate. Given the inherent density of Herbert’s seminal novel, I suspect that this spectacularly filmed movie will still appeal more to those who’ve read the book than those who haven’t. More so than his predecessors, however, Villeneuve has managed to capture the essence of the story, the tale of a young man thrown into a brutal world and called to be its unlikely savior.

(Plus, of course, sandworms. Very nicely executed here, those.)

As far as Plugged In’s perspective is concerned, this PG-13 film pushes the boundaries of that rating in its grim violence. This is a dark story, one of betrayal and death that is not much redeemed in this first installment. Blood flows, as evidenced by plenty of the slick red stuff coating combatants’ blades.

And then there’s all that spiritual stuff—and there’s a lot of it here. Though both the Bene Gesserit religion and that of the Fremen are fictional ones, it’s not hard to draw parallels between existing belief systems in our world. Here, religion serves, paradoxically, as both the sustainer of the status quo and the spark of revolution coming against it.

There’s plenty of fodder for discussion in that tension, which I suspect is exactly what Herbert intended. And Villeneuve has captured that tension effectively here. But families with younger fans of the book may want to think carefully before seeing this version of Frank Herbert’s iconic story.

Adam R. Holz

After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.

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"one of the greatest things i have ever seen": steven spielberg has high praise for one dune 2 scene.

Director Steven Spielberg calls one Dune: Part Two scene "one of the greatest things [he has] ever seen" while interviewing Denis Villeneuve.

Steven Spielberg praises the sandworm surfing scene in Dune: Part Two , calling it one of the greatest he has ever seen.
Spielberg compares the way the sand works in Dune: Part Two to water.
The sandworm surfing scene is a grand moment tied to character arcs, showcasing Paul's growth and Denis Villeneuve's directing skill.

Director Steven Spielberg offers high praise for one of Dune: Part Two ’s scenes. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Dune: Part Two continues the story of Paul Atreides as he connects with the Fremen and falls in love with Chani. Dune: Part Two is getting rave reviews and continues to succeed in theaters.

While interviewing Villeneuve on The Director’s Cut podcast, Spielberg speaks incredibly highly of the Dune: Part Two ’s surfing the sandworm scene. Leading up to his praise, Spielberg praised Villeneuve for making the sand appear almost like an ocean. He said that “ the sandworms were like sea serpents .” He then went on to call the scene with the sandworm surfing “ one of the greatest things [he has] ever seen. Ever. ” Check out the full quote from Spielberg below:

The sandworms were like sea serpents. And that scene surfing the sandworms is one of the greatest things I have ever seen. Ever.

Why Steven Spielberg Is Right About This Dune Scene

Hearing Spielberg talk about Dune: Part Two is fascinating. His likening of the sand in Dune to a water-like effect, where the sand’s physics appears similar to that of water, is an alternative way to conceptualize the landscape of Arrakis. From a VFX standpoint, these physics make sense, for the granular level of detail with which one has to CGI grains of sand is similar to that of water molecules.

Spielberg is also right to call out the sandworm scene. While there are several notable visual beats in Dune: Part Two — including the black-and-white Harkonnen planet — riding the sandworms is the most grandiose moment in the film. It has been highlighted in the Dune trailers, and it is a scene that will likely go down as one of the best in modern sci-fi.

Dune 2 Includes An Amazing Callback To One Of Paul's Visions From 2021's Dune

Part of what makes Dune: Part Two ’s sandworm surfing scene so notable is how closely tied it is with character arcs. Through the film, Paul has to learn to master the ways of the Fremen, including walking through Arrakis, summoning the sandworm, mounting them, and riding them. In the climactic surfing scene, two forces now have control: Paul as the soon-to-be Lisan al Gaib and Villeneuve as a sci-fi auteur directing a scene to perfection.

Dune: Part Two is available to watch in theaters.

Source: The Director’s Cut Podcast

Dune: Part Two

Dune: Part Two is the sequel to Denis Villeneuve's 2021 film that covers the novel's events by Frank Herbert. The movie continues the quest of Paul Atreides on a journey of revenge against those who slew his family. With insight into the future, Atreides may be forced to choose between his one true love and the universe's fate.

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Talking ‘Dune’: Book and Movies

The times’s critic alissa wilkinson discusses frank herbert’s classic science fiction novel and denis villeneuve’s film adaptations..

Hosted by Gilbert Cruz

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Frank Herbert’s epic novel “Dune” and its successors have been entrenched in the science fiction and fantasy canon for almost six decades, a rite of passage for proudly nerdy readers across the generations. But “Dune” is experiencing a broader cultural resurgence at the moment thanks to Denis Villeneuve’s recent film adaptations starring Timothée Chalamet . ( Part 2 is in theaters now.)

This week on the podcast, Gilbert Cruz talks to The Times’s critic Alissa Wilkinson, who covers movies, culture and religion, about Herbert’s novel, Villeneuve’s films and the enduring hold of Fremen lore on the audience’s imagination.

“There’s a couple things that I think are really unsettling in ‘Dune,’” Wilkinson says. “One is, the vision of Frank Herbert was, I believe, to basically write a book that questioned authoritarians and hero mythology genuinely, across the board. Any kind of a hero figure he is proposing will always have things and people come up alongside that hero figure that distort their influence. Even if they intend well, if they’re benevolent, there’s still all of this really awful stuff that comes along with it. So Paul is a messiah figure — we believe he wants good things for most of the book — and then he turns on a dime or it feels like he might be turning on a dime. You can never quite tell where anyone stands in this book. And I think that is unsettling, especially because so many of the other kinds of things that we watch — the superhero movies, “Star Wars,” whatever — there’s a clear-cut good and evil fight going on. Good and evil don’t really exist in ‘Dune.’”

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Review’s podcast in general. You can send them to [email protected] .

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Lethal Mullet Podcast: REVIEW: Dune Part Two Fandom Podcast Network

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Lethal Mullet Podcast: REVIEW: Dune Part Two Join the Mullet as he goes aboard a Heighliner for long trip to see Arrakis in all it's glory in the sequel to 2021's DUNE: DUNE PART TWO! Check this out as the first mullet reaction and what makes this film the best in the last five years. Find Lethal Mullet Podcast on:Apple / Stitcher / Spotify / Google Play / Podbean / IheartRadioContact:Site: fpnet.podbean.comTwitter: @fanpodnetworkFacebook & Instagram: Fandom Podcast NetworkAdam: @thelethalmullet (Twitter/Facebook/Instagram)FPN Master Feed: fpnet.podbean.comCatch the flagship show: Culture Clash, Blood of Kings, and the host of amazing podcasts covering all of Lethal Mullet Podcast #fandompodcastnetwork #lethalmulletpodcast #adamobrien #australia #popculture #fled #duneparttwo #frankherbert #denisvilleneuve #dune

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Box Office: ‘Godzilla x Kong’ Crushes Expectations With $80 Million Debut

By Rebecca Rubin

Rebecca Rubin

Film and Media Reporter

Box Office: ‘Oppenheimer’ Opens in Japan With $2.5 Million 2 days ago
Box Office: ‘Godzilla x Kong’ Stomps to $194 Million Worldwide, ‘Dune 2’ Glides Past $600 Million Milestone 2 days ago
Box Office: ‘Godzilla x Kong’ Crushes Expectations With $80 Million Debut 2 days ago

GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE, from left: Godzilla, Kong, 2024. © Warner Bros. /Courtesy Everett Collection

“ Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire ” stomped to the top of box office charts, collecting a better-than-expected $80 million from 3,861 North American theaters in its debut.

It’s the second-biggest debut for Warner Bros. and Legendary’s MonsterVerse, following 2014’s “Godzilla” ($93 million) but ahead of 2017’s “Kong: Skull Island” ($61 million), 2019’s “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” ($47.7 million) and 2021’s “Godzilla vs. Kong” ($31 million while on HBO Max). “Godzilla x Kong” also notched the second-largest domestic opening weekend of the year, barely trailing another Warner Bros. and Legendary tentpole, “Dune: Part Two: ($82.5 million).

“Godzilla” and “Kong” movies tend to be especially huge at the international box office, and “The New Empire” is no different. It far exceeded expectations with $114 million from 64 overseas territories, bringing its global total to a massive $194 million . After three days of release, it’s already the third-highest-grossing movie of the year following “ Dune: Part Two ” ($626 million after five weeks of release) and “Kung Fu Panda 4” ($347 million after four weeks of release).

“The film feels like a cinematic event,” says “Godzilla x Kong” producer Mary Parent. “It delivers in fresh ways we haven’t seen from these characters.”

The one-two punch of “Godzilla x Kong” and “Dune 2” is helping to offset the shortage of new releases in January and February. A few weeks ago, box office revenues were 20% behind the same point in 2023. But now, ticket sales are down by just 6.3%, according to Comscore.

“Every movie counts, and the importance of each film’s performance carries a lot of weight in terms of moving the needle,” says senior Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “The combination of ‘Dune,’ ‘Kung Fu Panda,’ ‘Ghostbusters’ and now ‘Godzilla’ has shown the power of a few key releases to turn the box office tide in a relatively short amount of time.”

Elsewhere at the box office, “Godzilla x Kong” took a sizable bite out of business for Sony’s “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” which is targeting a similar demographic (and also coincidentally has the word “Empire” in the title). The supernatural comedy landed in a distant second place with $15.7 million from 4,345 venues, marking a steep 65% decline from its debut. After two weeks of release “Ghostbusters” has generated $73.4 million at the domestic box office and $108.5 million globally. It cost $100 million, not including hefty marketing expenses. Since theatres get to keep half of ticket sales, “Frozen Empire” requires some serious box office staying power to justify the studio’s return to the business of busting ghosts.

Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “Kung Fu Panda 4” remained in third place with $10 million from 3,582 theaters. So far, the animated family film has grossed $151 million in North America and more than $347 million globally. Given its $85 million production budget, “Kung Fu Panda 4” is well positioned in its theatrical run.

“Dune: Part Two” dropped to the No. 4 spot in its fifth weekend on the big screen. The sci-fi epic has collected $9.85 million over the weekend and $251 million domestically to date. It’s currently the highest-grossing movie of the year with $626 million worldwide.

Sydney Sweeney’s religious horror film “Immaculate” rounded out the top five with $3.2 million from 2,362 locations, down 41% from the prior weekend. Neon is backing the movie, which has earned $11.1 million after two weeks in theaters.

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Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Crushes At The Weekend Box Office With One Of The Best Debuts Of The 2024 So Far

L ast weekend, Gil Kenan's Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire tried to get a post-pandemic franchise bump. In late 2021, the last movie in the series – Jason Reitman's Ghostbusters: Afterlife – debuted to some depressed numbers due to the state of theaters at the time, and there was hope that the next sequel would inspire much more substantial ticket sales. Those ambitions weren't totally fulfilled for the horror/comedy last Sunday ... but one week later, almost the exact same situation has worked out extremely well for Adam Wingard's Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire .

The new title has arrived almost three years after the release of Wingard's Godzilla vs. Kong , and the results are fantastic – with the new blockbuster earning more than double what the previous MonsterVerse title brought in in its first three days. Check out the full Top 10 below and join me after for analysis.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Has A Monster Opening Weekend Nearly Matching Dune: Part Two

When Godzilla vs. Kong first premiered in March 31, 2021, it was the first tentpole blockbuster to arrive in theaters in over a year, and it was a thrilling hit . Despite the fact that Warner Bros. decided to release the movie simultaneously for Max subscribers ( a distribution strategy applied for the studio's entire slate ), there was a clear excitement to see a big movie on the big screen. Cut to 2024, and we know have proof that movie's box office success wasn't solely a result of people missing the theatrical experience.

This weekend's opening weekend numbers for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire show that the MonsterVerse has real heat. Not only are the domestic ticket sales more than twice as big as those for its immediate predecessor ($80 million vs. $32.2 million, per The Numbers ), but the film just had the biggest opening weekend for a title in the franchise since Gareth Edwards' Godzilla kicked everything off back in 2014 (at which time it brought in $93.2 million). From Godzilla to Jordan Vogt-Roberts' Kong: Skull Island to Michael Dougherty's Godzilla: King Of The Monsters to Godzilla vs. Kong , opening weekend numbers had been trending down since the launch of the titan-centric canon a decade ago, but that trajectory is now moving in the opposite direction.

This is both the second big box office win for Warner Bros. in March 2024 and the second time that the studio has recently produced a hit sequel to a blockbuster success from 2021. The win that is Godzilla x Kong is coming on the heels of what Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two has been doing for the last four weeks, and the two titles now sit together on top of the list for 2024's biggest domestic debuts. The two films have two different levels of buzz going – with Dune: Part Two being hailed by critics as a science-fiction masterpiece and Godzilla x Kong getting a more mixed response , but movie-goers are clearly hyped about both.

It's not just in the United States and Canada that Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is doing well – it's already putting up big numbers around the globe. According to early calculations, the blockbuster is doing better overseas than its doing domestically, having made $114 million from foreign territories. The feature's worldwide total presently sits just short of $200 million at $194 million, which is enough for it to already rank as the seventh biggest worldwide release of 2024 thus far.

These results would be even better if the title had a budget similar to Takashi Yamazaki's Godzilla Minus One , which cost only $15 million to make per The Hollywood Reporter ... but that's definitely not the case. Variety instead pins its budget at around $135 million (not including publicity and marketing), which means that the title still has to do well in the weeks to come in order to be considered a true box office win.

Taking a peek at the weeks ahead, one has to like Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire 's chances for long-term success. While there are certainly some exciting releases set to come out in April, there is nothing on the way in the next month that is going to sell itself as a big screen experience quite like the latest MonsterVerse title. As far as titles on cinema marquees go, its clearly the biggest game in town right now... which is a statement reinforced by the second weekend performance by Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire .

Facing Off Against Godzilla x Kong, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Has A Super Rough Second Weekend

As I noted in my box office column last Sunday, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was made with a $100 million budget, and after bringing in just $45 million from its first few days in theaters, it really needed to overperform in its second weekend. Sadly, that hasn't happened. Pulling off said mission was always going to be a challenge thanks to the hyped arrival of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire ... but now, it's hard to imagine that anyone will look at the numbers and be happy with them.

With a big fraction of the film's target demographic going to see the new release from the MonsterVerse, the fifth feature from the Ghostbusters franchise was left to see its weekend-to-weekend ticket sales drop 65 percent. The new movie only made $15.7 million since Friday, bringing its total from the United States and Canada to date to $73.4 million. This means that the box office is presently lagging behind the performance of Ghostbusters: Afterlife , which had $87.5 million in the bank by the end of its tenth day playing in theaters domestically (and remember: the industry was still being roughed up by the COVID-19 pandemic at the time).

Adding in ticket sales from overseas don't really help things, as Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has only made $35.1 million from abroad – bringing its global total to just $108.5 million thus far. It may end up being the first title in the franchise not to earn more than $200 million during its time playing on the big screen... and if that's the case, one has to wonder if it might be time for the brand to go back on the shelf for a while.

We'll continue to follow the numbers for both Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire next week as the two blockbusters go toe-to-toe with two fresh cinematic forces: the child of the devil and Dev Patel in full action movie mode. Arkasha Stevenson's The First Omen and Patel's Monkey Man will both be arriving in wide release on Friday, and I'll be back here next Sunday to track their box office performance in my next column.

While you wait, you can check out all of the big titles on the way in the coming months via our 2024 Movie Release Calendar .

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Crushes At The Weekend Box Office With One Of The Best Debuts Of The 2024 So Far

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Dune (2021) Review
Dune (2021) Movie Review
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WATCHING *DUNE (2021)* FOR THE FIRST TIME!! (i'm invested!)
Dune: Part One (2021) Movie Reaction
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DUNE (2021) MOVIE REACTION
Everything important happens when we're awake
A great man doesn't seek to lead

COMMENTS

Dune movie review & film summary (2021)
The new film adaptation of the book, directed by Denis Villeneuve from a script he wrote with Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts, visualizes those scenes magnificently. As many of you are aware, "Dune" is set in the very distant future, in which humanity has evolved in many scientific respects and mutated in a lot of spiritual ones.
Dune
Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and ...
'Dune' Review
Timothee Chalamet in Denis Villeneuve's 'Dune': Film Review | Venice 2021. Frank Herbert's 1965 sci-fi classic gets epic screen treatment, with an all-star cast that also features Rebecca ...
Dune
Full Review | Jul 28, 2023. Rebecca Johnson Film Focus Online. Dune is a masterful sci-fi blockbuster that is going to please the majority of its audience. The visuals are crying out to be seen on ...
Dune review
Dune screens at the Venice film festival and is released in Australia and the UK on 21 October, and in the US on 22 October. Explore more on these topics Venice film festival 2021
'Dune' Review: A Hero in the Making, on Shifting Sands
Villeneuve has made a serious, stately opus, and while he doesn't have a pop bone in his body, he knows how to put on a show as he fans a timely argument about who gets to play the hero now ...
Dune review
Dune review - Denis Villeneuve's awe-inspiring epic is a moment of triumph ... Wed 20 Oct 2021 10.00 EDT Last modified on Tue 8 Feb 2022 08.01 EST. Share. ... Perhaps even more than in his ...
'Dune' Review: Spectacular and Engrossing…Until It Isn't
Viewed in that light, "Dune" is a movie that earns five stars for world-building and about two-and-a-half for storytelling. If you stack it up next to David Lynch's disastrously confounding ...
Dune (2021) Review
Release Date: 22 Oct 2021. Original Title: Dune (2021) In Dune, much is made of dreams. It's the first word of Denis Villeneuve's film, spoken in a booming, bone-rattling voiceover before a ...
Dune review
F or years, it seemed that the greatest film ever to come from Frank Herbert's quasi-biblical 1960s sci-fi novel Dune would be a 2013 documentary about the failure to make a great film out of ...
Dune (2021)
Dune: Part One (2021) is a movie the wife and I saw in theatres at an advanced screening. The storyline tells the tale of an emperor who changes leadership in his most important and profitable planet in his kingdom. ... Come-and-Review 18 September 2021. Perhaps the greatest lesson that can be drawn from Denis Villeneuve's Dune is that ...
Dune is this generation's Lord of the Rings trilogy
Villeneuve's Dune is the sandworm exploding out from the darkness below. It is a film of such literal and emotional largeness that it overwhelms the senses. If all goes well, it should ...
'Dune' 2021 review: The story sprawls, the pacing stalls : NPR
His screenplay distills Herbert's hilariously dense network of galactic institutions down to the major players. You'll miss some nuance, maybe, but that's why God made wikis for you to consult on ...
'Dune' review: Sci-fi epic is an immersive but incomplete experience
Review Movie Reviews. Sci-Fi epic 'Dune' is an immersive but incomplete experience ... October 22, 2021 7:00 AM ET. Heard on ... This first Dune may not be a great movie — or even half a great ...
Dune: Part One review
The 2021 Dune film is a tour de force of cinematic sci-fi, a star-studded yet deeply weird fantasy epic, and a thoughtful and thrilling movie experience. Then it stops right in the middle ...
Dune (2021)
Dune: Directed by Denis Villeneuve. With Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa. A noble family becomes embroiled in a war for control over the galaxy's most valuable asset while its heir becomes troubled by visions of a dark future.
Dune review: A sci-fi masterpiece of substance and spectacle
The first weekend in March saw the release of Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve's epic sci-fi adventure film and the sequel to 2021's Dune. We pick up with Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and ...
Dune First Reviews: The Breathtaking Adaptation Fans Have Been Waiting
The first reviews of his star-studded and visually epic new movie, also known as Dune: Part One, answer mostly in the affirmative. However, there's a fairly uniform disappointment in how it ends without an ending. ... honors the source material in the most satisfying way possible. Dune 2021 is a modern-day work of art." - Jimmy O, JoBlo ...
Dune Review: Grand, Huge, Visually Striking, Incomplete, Emotionless
By Mae Abdulbaki. Published Oct 21, 2021. Ambitious, occasionally thrilling, and visually striking, Dune is mostly set up, building out a heartless world that never truly feels complete. After being delayed a whole year due to COVID-19, Dune is finally getting its time in the sun. Adapted from Frank Herbert's 1965 novel of the same name ...
Dune (2021 film)
Dune (titled onscreen as Dune: Part One) is a 2021 American epic science fiction film directed and co-produced by Denis Villeneuve, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth.It is the first of a two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel of the same name by Frank Herbert.Set in the distant future, the film follows Paul Atreides as his family, the noble House Atreides, is thrust ...
Dune Movie Review and Star Rating
Reviews for Films like Dune (2021) Asteroid City Quantumania White Noise. With its impressive visuals, stunning performances, and gripping story, Dune is undoubtedly one of the best films of 2021. It's a film that will appeal to both sci-fi fans and general audiences, with its universal themes of family, power, and destiny resonating with ...
Steven Spielberg Reviews Dune: Part Two: "A Brilliant Sci-Fi Film..."
Steven Spielberg has weighed in on Dune: Part Two, and the iconic filmmaker had some strong praise for director Denis Villeneuve's sequel — and for one scene in particular.. The duo appeared ...
Dune (2021) Film Review
Initially scheduled to be released in 2020 and postponed many times due to the pandemic, Dune (2021) has been on everyone's radar for over a year, and with good reason. Ever since the release of David Lynch's 1984 misfire and an ambitious but flawed 2000 television miniseries, as well as the failed release of Jodorowsky's promising adaptation, fans of Frank Herbert's acclaimed novels ...
Dune: Part One
Movie Review. Duke Leto Atreides knows he's walking into a trap. But he has little choice. The galaxy's Emperor has instructed the Duke's noble House Atreides to assume stewardship of the most important planet in the empire: Arrakis. Dune, the Desert Planet, as it's known. The sands of Arrakis blow hot and barren across its vast wasteland.
"One Of The Greatest Things I Have Ever Seen": Steven Spielberg Has
Dune: Part Two is the sequel to Denis Villeneuve's 2021 film that covers the novel's events by Frank Herbert. The movie continues the quest of Paul Atreides on a journey of revenge against those who slew his family. With insight into the future, Atreides may be forced to choose between his one true love and the universe's fate.
Talking 'Dune': Book and Movies
You never know what's going to go wrong in these graphic novels, where Circus tigers, giant spiders, shifting borders and motherhood all threaten to end life as we know it. When the author Tommy ...
List of accolades received by Dune (2021 film)
Dune is a 2021 American epic science fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, and Eric Roth. It is the first of a two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel of the same name by Frank Herbert, primarily covering the first half of the book.Set in the far future, the film follows Paul Atreides as his family, the noble House Atreides, is thrust into a war for ...
Lethal Mullet Podcast: REVIEW: Dune Part Two
Lethal Mullet Podcast: REVIEW: Dune Part Two Join the Mullet as he goes aboard a Heighliner for long trip to see Arrakis in all it's glory in the sequel to 2021's DUNE: DUNE PART TWO! Check this out as the first mullet reaction and what makes this film the best in the last five years. Find L…
Box Office: 'Godzilla x Kong' Beats Expectations With $80 ...
By Rebecca Rubin. ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection. " Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire " stomped to the top of box office charts, collecting a better-than-expected $80 million from ...
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Crushes At The Weekend Box Office ...
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Has A Monster Opening Weekend Nearly Matching Dune: Part Two. When Godzilla vs. Kong first premiered in March 31, 2021, it was the first tentpole blockbuster to ...

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