Dune Part 2 is almost certainly on the cards, as Warner Bros. teases that the upcoming sequel to Dune is bound to happen.
Ann Sarnoff, WarnerMedia CEO of Studios and Network, hinted to Deadline that, despite not yet being green lit, Dune Part 2 is on its way:
“Will we have a sequel to Dune? If you watch the movie, you see how it ends. I think you pretty much know the answer to that,” she said.
Dune, which opened yesterday in theatres across the globe, is based on the book by Frank Herbert and tells only the first part of the story – the film even opens with a title card reading "Dune: Part 1", making it obvious that there's more story to tell.
It seems that it’s only a matter of time until Part 2 is officially confirmed, and director Denis Villeneuve recently told IGN’s Jim Vejvoda that he’s ready to start filming Dune Part 2 “as soon as possible”.
“I would be very ready to go quite quickly,” he confirmed. “To go quickly in a movie of that size, you still need to make sets, costumes, so we are talking about months. But if ever there's enthusiasm and the movie is greenlit sooner than later, I will say that I will be ready to shoot in 2022 for sure.”
That doesn’t mean the production will be rushed, however, as Villeneuve confirmed that the emphasis is always on quality.
“I am ready to go, and I will say that I would love to bring it to the screen as soon as possible,” he explained. “The first film, I really had time to make sure that it was exactly the way I wanted it to be. I would love to have the same feeling when I make the second part. That would be the priority. Quality will be the priority.”
Dune is already off to a promising start, with a $36.8 million international opening. If Warner Bros. is waiting to see how the film performs before green lighting Dune Part 2, this certainly looks promising, and with Dune opening today across North America, it likely won’t be long until the sequel is officially announced.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.