‘Dune: Part Two’ praised for its “epic” scale and ambition in glowing first reviews

Dune: Part Two has become one of the defining blockbusters of 2024, but not all the attention has been around the film itself.Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the sequel picks up as Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) unites with the Fremen people on Arrakis to wage war against House Harkonnen.Along with Chalamet, the film stars Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Javier Bardem and Austin Butler.Dune: Part Two managed to earn $200million at the worldwide box office within its first week, making it the highest-grossing film of the year so far.Sandworm

Austin Butler has revealed to NME that he drew inspiration from Gary Oldman and Heath Ledger for his performance in Dune: Part Two.Butler plays the role of Feyd-Rautha, the villainous nephew of and heir to Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), in Denis Villeneuve’s new film.When asked if there were any classic movie bad guys that he took a lead from while preparing to play the role, Butler said that it was the broad career work of the two stars that motivates him.“I’ve always been inspired by Gary Oldman in many of his roles,” he said. “Léon: The Professional, or True Romance, or The Fifth Element.”“And you know, we’ve talked about Heath Ledger a lot, the sense of play that he had.

Dune: Part Two director Denis Villeneuve has revealed the character that it caused him the most “pain” to leave out of the new film.Part Two concludes the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 896-page, 1965 novel, following Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as he unites with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen to learn the ways of the desert, wage war on the forces that destroyed his family, and fulfil his destiny as the supposed chosen one.The film also stars Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Stellan Skarsgård and Dave Bautista.But now, Villeneuve has said that there are other actors that he feels regret for having to cut out of the film’s final edit.In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the director said: “When you adapt, there’s always some kind of violence toward the original material. You have to change things, you have to bend, you have to make painful choices.”“One of the most painful choices for me on this one was Thufir Hawat,” Villeneuve said, referring to the central character Paul Atreides’ mentor, who was to be played by Stephen McKinley Henderson (Lady Bird, Lincoln).Additionally, Tim Blake Nelson (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, O Brother Where Art Thou?) had also been announced for the film, but does not appear in the final cut.Nelson recently told Movieweb: “I had a great time over there shooting it.

If we’re going to praise the visual rapture of Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” movies—and we should—and in particular, the newly released “Dune: Part Two,” there’s no conversation that can happen without mention of Academy Award-winning cinematographer Greig Fraser, who won his first Oscar for “Dune” in 2022. READ MORE: Denis Villeneuve Calls ‘Dune: Part Two’ A “Dark Tragedy,” Talks Potential ‘Messiah’ Sequel & More [Interview] While “Dune: Part Two” is genuinely unanimously praised by critics (read our review here)—and this weekend, it grossed $178.5 million worldwide, and with $81 domestic, that’s the biggest opening since “Barbie”— it does have a small group of detractors.

Last week saw the global launch of Denis Villeneuve’s second “Dune” film, wrapping up the conclusion of the first novel adaptation while also leaving everything on a cliffhanger for a third movie that the filmmaker is co-writing with franchise screenwriter Jon Spaihts. Strong critical responses and audience word of mouth have paid off big time for the film as it has made some history over the weekend, becoming the biggest opening for the director and overperforming compared to the first part that was released back in September 2021.

Dune: Part Two director Denis Villeneuve has defended the film’s lengthy running time amid debates about whether or not films are getting too long.The sci-fi epic has clocked up a running time of 2 hours and 46 minutes, just slightly longer than the first instalment of the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel, which was 2 hours and 35 minutes long.It’s been noted that films have gradually been getting longer in the last decade, sparking a debate about how necessary that is. It picked up pace in particular last year with the release of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon, which were three hours and three and a half hours long respectively.Now, Villeneuve has had his say on the matter.

*Some spoilers ahead for “Dune: Part Two” in the following article, beware.” When adapting a rich sci-fi fantasy literary franchise as dense and epic as the scale of Frank Herbert’s “Dune,” some things just won’t be able to make the feature film adaptation. As you may have noticed if you saw this film this weekend, there are a few elements seen in the David Lynch incarnation that didn’t make it into director Denis Villeneuve’s two-part incarnation, such as the Spicing Guild and Navigator (A mutated clairvoyant that warns The Emperor of House Atreties and Paul Atreteies becoming a threat to them).

Dune: Part Two ” is delivering on the promise. Armed with sandworms, big screen spectacle and the star power of Timothée Chalamet, Denis Villeneuve ’s science fiction epic stormed the North American box office this weekend earning $81.5 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.Internationally, it earned $97 million, bringing its global debut to $178.5 million.“Denis made a really extraordinary and special film and its been really exciting to see people respond,” said Mary Parent, a producer on both “Dune” films and chairman of worldwide production at Legendary. “It was made for the big screen and it feels like it’s being received as a cinematic event.”It’s the first major hit of 2024, and one that was sorely needed by exhibitors.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor In a stunning cinematic universe where sand dunes rise like mountains and the fate of galaxies hangs in the balance, Denis Villeneuve‘s first voyage into the Frank Herbert’s “Dune” saga clinched six of its 10 Oscar nominations. Yet, in a twist as dramatic as Dr.

FRIDAY UPDATE: Dune: Part Two added 42 international box office markets on Thursday, taking the offshore cume on the Denis Villeneuve-directed sequel to $20.8M in a total 55. This includes two full-days of play and previews in those markets.

UPDATED FRIDAY AM, POST EXCLUSIVE: Legendary/Warner Bros Dune Part Two has now grown to $12M+ per Warners. That’s from 4,500 locations, and Imax alone delivered $4.5M of that number or 38%. Of that preview figure, $2M came from an Imax fan screening on Feb. 25. Audience reactions have hit Rotten Tomatoes and they’re at 95%, which is great. Denis Villeneuve’s first Dune saw 83% certified fresh from RT critics and 90% from RT audiences.

Jordan Moreau It’s finally time to return to Arrakis. Denis Villeneuve‘s “Dune: Part Two” has arrived, making a mighty $12 million in previews at the box office from more than 3,400 theaters. Big-screen Imax showings made up $4.5 million of that huge haul.

Dune: Part Two adapts the second half of Frank Herbert’s original 1965 novel, but the film makes some key changes from the book.Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the sequel to 2021’s Dune picks up as Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) unites with the Fremen people on Arrakis to wage war against House Harkonnen.Along with Chalamet, Dune: Part Two stars Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, Zendaya, Austin Butler and Florence Pugh.After being accepted as the Lisan al Gaib (an off-world prophet or messiah) of the Fremen, Paul Atreides leads them on an attack against Emperor Shaddam IV (Christopher Walken) and House Harkonnen. Through the Fremen’s faith in Paul, and by riding the sandworms, they manage to invade the capital city, Arrakeen.To avenge his father’s death, Paul kills Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård).

Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two” opens this Friday, March 1, and returning for the film as the Bene Gesserit Lady Jessica and Paul Atreides’ mother is actress Rebecca Ferguson, known for the “Mission Impossible” franchise (read our review). As I noted earlier this week, Ferguson can be a mercurial interview; she’s spirited, unconventional, can turn on a dime, and doesn’t suffer fools gladly.

Following ecstatic reviews (including ours) and a super impressive Rotten review score of 97, Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two” seems poised to not only conquer the sagging 2024 box office but enliven it, perhaps giving it the shot in the arm it needs. READ MORE: ‘Dune: Part Two’ Review: A Darker, Devastating Blockbuster & Cautionary Tale About Prophecy, Fate & False Idols It’s a colossal film and an immense achievement, but a much darker film, and clearly much darker than I expected (full disclosure: I started reading, but put down Frank Herbert‘s “Dune” before the first film came out; more below).

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Ticket sales at the box office this weekend will be flowing as freely as spice on the desert planet of Arrakis. Director Denis Villeneuve‘s big-budget sequel “Dune: Part Two,” where “spice” is an all-powerful commodity, is targeting $70 million to $80 million in its opening weekend. Warner Bros., the studio behind the sci-fi epic, is conservatively projecting a $65 million start, though most box office prognosticators believe that revenues could near the $90 million mark.

Austin Butler‘s breakout came from a Method acting performance for the ages in Baz Luhrmann‘s “Elvis,” with the actor living in the role on camera and off for about three years. But Butler wasn’t about to do that for Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in “Dune: Part Two“.

“Dune: Part Two,” which hits theaters March 1.“I’ve definitely in the past, with ‘Elvis,’ explored living within that world for three years and that being the only thing that I think about day and night,” Butler told the Los Angeles Times in an interview with the movie’s director, Denis Villeneuve.“With Feyd, I knew that that would be unhealthy for my family and friends.”Butler was so immersed in playing Elvis Presley in “Elvis” that, for a long time after finishing his role on the movie, he still spoke in Presley’s Southern drawl.Villeneuve joked that, if Butler absorbed himself as much in Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen as he did with Presley, it would also be unhealthy for the director.“So I made a conscious decision to have a boundary,” Butler said. “It allowed for more freedom between action and cut because I knew I was going to protect everybody else outside of the context of what we were doing.“That’s not to say that it doesn’t bleed into your life,” he said.

Zendaya, Timothee Chalamet and Austin Butler are taking their high-profile, high-fashion promo tour for Dune: Part Two on the road!

Denis Villeneuve’s grand 2021 film about a young duke who may or may not be an embattled world’s long-awaited messiah. Paul Atreides’ true role for the people of Arrakis — a k a Dune — becomes clearer in this more propulsive second chapter. But, when the end credits roll, there is no question that “Dune” is the savior Hollywood needs.