Legendary CEO Joshua Grode has confirmed that the current plan is to produce at least two new ‘Dune’ movies.  Frank Herbert’s sprawling novel is notoriously hard to film, and previous attempts have fallen short for one reason or another, with some never coming to fruition.  Denis Villeneuve signed on to direct the newest version and has already stated that his first film will only adapt half of the book.  (Keep in mind, there are more than one book!)

 

RELATED:  Brian Herbert Confirms That Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ Will Only Cover Half The Book

 

As Grode recently stated:

“There’s a backstory that was hinted at in some of the books [that we expanded]. Also, when you read the book there’s a logical place to stop the movie before the book is over”.

Presumably, further sequels will be determined by how well the first movie does and possibly how well the one sequel that is already planned does.  Of course, numerous movies get made with the intention of kicking off a franchise, with firm plans in place for sequels, only for the first picture to bomb so badly that those plans are simply scrapped.  Hopefully, that doesn’t happen with ‘Dune’ as science fiction fans have waited decades for a proper adaptation.

Alejandro Jodorowsky attempted to get a version made in the 1970s, but ultimately it never came to fruition.  Paramount acquired the rights in 2008, but that version was abandoned as well.  David Lynch made the most well-known adaptation, but his 1984 film was a financial and critical flop, that also only included a portion of the story from the first book.  In 2000, John Harrison created a miniseries which was successful, but due to the TV budget didn’t quite deliver in the way that some hoped.

 

RELATED:  Denis Villeneuve Wants ‘Dune’ To Be At Least 2 Movies

 

So far, ‘Dune’s production budget hasn’t been revealed, but it could be a big gamble.  Villeneuve’s last movie was also the follow-up to a cult classic ’80s sci-fi movie, ‘Blade Runner 2049’, but that picture only made $93 million at the domestic box office on a production budget of $150 million.

Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ stars Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Stephen Henderson, Charlotte Rampling, and Jason Momoa.  It is expected to hit the big screen on November 20, 2020.

 

Source: The Hollywood Reporter