Dune: Part Two/Production

Development

In November 2016, Legendary Pictures obtained the film and TV rights for the Dune franchise, based on the eponymous 1965 novel by Frank Herbert. Vice chair of worldwide production for Legendary Mary Parent began discussing with Denis Villeneuve about directing a film adaptation, quickly hiring him after realizing his passion for Dune. In February 2018, Villeneuve was confirmed to be hired as director, and intended to adapt the novel as a two-part film series. Villeneuve ultimately secured a two-film deal with Warner Bros. Pictures, in the same style as the two-part adaption of Stephen King's It in 2017 and 2019. In January 2019, Joe Walker was confirmed as the film's editor. Other crew included Brad Riker as supervising art director, Patrice Vermette as production designer, Paul Lambert as visual effects supervisor, Gerd Nefzer as special effects supervisor, and Thomas Struthers as stunt coordinator.

Dune: Part Two was produced by Villeneuve, Mary Parent, and Cale Boyter, with Tanya Lapointe, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Thomas Tull, Jon Spaihts, Richard P. Rubinstein, John Harrison, and Herbert W. Gain serving as executive producers and Kevin J. Anderson as creative consultant. Legendary CEO Joshua Grode confirmed in April 2019 that they plan to make a sequel, adding that "there's a logical place to stop the [first] movie before the book is over".

In December 2020, Villeneuve stated that due to Warner Bros.' plan to release the film in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously, the first film could underperform financially, resulting in cancellation of the planned sequel. In an IMAX screening of the first film's first ten minutes, the title logo read Dune: Part One, lending credence to plans for the sequel. In August 2021, Villeneuve spoke more confidently about the chances of a sequel film, iterating his excitement to work with Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya again, while stating Chani would have a bigger role in the sequel. Warner Bros. assured Villeneuve a sequel would be greenlit as long as the film performed well on HBO Max. Just days prior to the first film's release, Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff stated, "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."

On October 26, 2021, Legendary officially greenlit Dune: Part Two, with a spokesperson for the company stating, "We would not have gotten to this point without the extraordinary vision of Denis and the amazing work of his talented crew, the writers, our stellar cast, our partners at Warner Bros., and of course the fans! Here's to more Dune." Production work had occurred back-to-back with the first film, as Villeneuve and his wife Lapointe immediately took a flight to Budapest in order to begin pre-production work. A key point of negotiation prior to greenlighting the sequel was assuring that the sequel would have an exclusive window where it would only be shown theatrically, with Legendary and Warner Bros. agreeing to give Dune: Part Two a 45-day window before it would be available through other channels. Villeneuve said this theatrical exclusivity was a "non-negotiable condition", and that "the theatrical experience is at the very heart of the cinematic language for me". With Dune: Part Two being greenlit, Villeneuve said that his primary concern was to complete the filming as soon as possible, with the earliest he expected to start in the last quarter of 2022. He noted that production would be expedited by the work already done for the first film.

Writing

Eric Roth was hired to co-write the screenplay in April 2017 for the Dune films, and Jon Spaihts was later confirmed to be co-writing the script alongside Roth and Villeneuve. Game of Thrones language creator David Peterson was confirmed to be developing languages for the film in April 2019. Villeneuve and Peterson had created the Chakobsa language, which was used by actors on set. In November 2019, Spaihts stepped down as show-runner for Dune: Prophecy to focus on Dune: Part Two. In June 2020, Greig Fraser said, "It's a fully formed story in itself with places to go. It's a fully standalone epic film that people will get a lot out of when they see it".

Between the release of Dune and the confirmation of Dune: Part Two, Villeneuve started working the script in a way that production could begin immediately once the film was greenlit. By February 2021, Roth created a full treatment for the sequel, with writing beginning that August. He confirmed that Feyd-Rautha would appear in the film, and stated he will be a "very important character". In March 2022, Villeneuve had mostly finished writing the screenplay. Craig Mazin and Roth wrote additional literary material for the film.

Villeneuve stated that the film would continue directly from the first, and specifically described it as being the "second part". He described the film as being an "epic war movie", adding that while the first film was more "contemplative", the second would feature more action. Villeneuve sought to anchor the movie to the characters, primarily Paul and Chani. With the two featured in an "epic love story" between them, Villeneuve described them as the "epicenter of the story". Zendaya initially found difficulty in creating dialogue, commenting that "It was funny trying to figure out in this futuristic space talk, like, how do they flirt?" Chalamet also added that Paul would be heavily influenced by Chani, serving as his "moral compass". Paul becomes deeply embedded in Fremen culture, developing a closer bond with Stilgar, who becomes his surrogate father figure and mentor, while tensions emerge between Chani and Lady Jessica, as Chani is aware that Jessica's schemes negatively impact the Fremen.

The script ultimately conveys Chani as a nonbeliever of the prophecy and intended for its structure to first convey their romantic relationship from Paul's perspective, and eventually pivot to Chani's perspective as the audience realizes Paul's desire for power and insidious nature. He focused on Herbert's original intention to depict Paul as an antihero in Dune to becoming an eventual villain, and wrote the script with that in mind while also considering his future plans regarding Dune Messiah, particularly by modifying Chani's characterization as he felt that she eventually "disappeared in Paul's shadows" in the book. Feeling he had the "benefit of time" in doing so, Villeneuve decided to use all the elements of Paul's character arc and "play them a bit differently" in order to establish his eventual transformation into a villainous figure and becoming "what he was trying to fight against". He expanded the role of Chani and Lady Jessica from the novel, and interpreted Chani as being a critique of power.

When envisioning the sandworm sequence, Villeneuve primarily relied upon his own drawings and storyboards, as he felt the book did not contain adequate descriptions. He later cited it as being one of his favorite scenes in the film. When writing Paul's character arc, he considered Paul as transforming from a "humble" figure to a "dark messianic figure", and took inspiration from Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira (1988) when designing the storyboards. Villeneuve felt the film's ending was more "tragic" than that of the book, feeling that it adequately resolved Paul's storyline across the Dune films while setting up his character arc for a potential third film based on Dune Messiah (1969).

Following the first film, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is described as being heavily debilitated and reliant upon being submerged in fluids, while focusing on choosing an heir: Glossu "Beast" Rabban or Feyd-Rautha, both his nephews. Rabban was regarded as being a bad strategist, while Feyd-Rautha is shown to be clever, cunning, and charismatic. Actor Austin Butler felt Feyd-Rautha's character served as "flip sides of the same coin" to Paul, as both had been involved in the Bene Gesserit's genetic breeding program. Butler opined that Feyd-Rautha's upbringing on Giedi Prime and self-care for his body explained his arrogance. Meanwhile, Villeneuve noted his psychopathic personality and brutality similar to that of an animal, contrasted with his "code of honors" and reverence for fighters.

Lady Jessica is heavily traumatized by the death of Duke Leto, being compared to Paul as a "survivor" and strategizing to realize the ambitions of the Bene Gesserit, who aim to fulfill their prophecy to maximize human potential, disregarding morality and ethics. There is additional focus on the political aspect, with Princess Irulan fearing that her father, Emperor Shaddam IV, will lose his throne due to his loss of influence over warring factions. During the sequence of Paul's consumption of the Water of Life, Villeneuve deliberately altered the timeframe to depict an adult Alia for a dramatic effect, and to highlight Alia's unique birth. He and Spaihts decided to "compress" the time for both the sequence and Lady Jessica's pregnancy in order to establish more narrative tension. He added that Lady Jessica's conversations with an embryonic Alia was unique, as he felt it was "fresh and original to have a character who is powerful and still a pregnant woman" while also conveying how others perceive Alia as an "abomination". Like Chani and Lady Jessica, Villeneuve further developed Princess Irulan's character and motivations from the novel, with actress Florence Pugh noting her reserved nature and intelligence.

Casting

In March 2022, Pugh and Butler were reported to be in talks to star in the film as Princess Irulan and Harkonnen heir Feyd-Rautha, respectively. Butler was offered the role while having coffee with Villeneuve, without needing to audition. He trained for four months in Budapest, using a fitness regimen made by an ex-Navy SEALs member. Villeneuve described his performance as being a "cross between a psychopath killer, an Olympic sword master, a snake, and Mick Jagger" while Butler researched past cultures he felt "bred brutality" and took inspiration from various animals including sharks and snakes.

Butler said that he drew inspiration from Gary Oldman and Heath Ledger for his performance. He imitated Skarsgård's voice as the Baron, as he felt that Feyd would be influenced by the Baron due to growing up with him. In May, Christopher Walken joined the cast as Shaddam IV. In June, Léa Seydoux entered negotiations to join the cast as Lady Margot Fenring. In July, Souheila Yacoub joined the cast as Shishakli.

In January 2023, Tim Blake Nelson was added to the cast in an undisclosed role. Attending the film's London premiere in February 2024, Anya Taylor-Joy confirmed that she had been cast in the film. Villeneuve was surprised that her role had been kept a secret for that long, noting it required "so much work to keep that secret". Her role had been revealed in a casting credit list for the film on Letterboxd.

Filming

Pre-shooting began on July 4, 2022, at the Brion tomb in Altivole, Italy for two days. Principal photography was set to begin on July 21 in Budapest, Hungary, but began earlier on July 18. The film was entirely shot using Arri Alexa LF digital cameras, with new filming locations and sets being used "to avoid repetition". In October 2022, Chalamet took a break from filming in order to attend the premiere of Bones and All (2022). The production team managed to shoot during the partial solar eclipse of October 25, and used the footage for the opening fight scene between Harkonnen and Fremen soldiers.

In November, production moved to Abu Dhabi, with Pugh finishing her scenes in November. Certain scenes set at dawn had to be filmed across three days to take advantage of the golden hour. A special unit of production filmed scenes with Taylor-Joy in Namibia, the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa. Filming wrapped on December 12, 2022. Due to the delays, Villeneuve was able to make a film transfer for projection using the IMAX 70 mm and conventional 70 mm film formats.Pugh delivered Princess Irulan's opening narration during her first day of filming and for overall production. Villeneuve and cinematographer Greig Fraser filmed Feyd-Rautha's gladiator sequence with specially designed black-and-white infrared cameras. They wanted the Harkonnens to cheer and stomp rather than applaud, and designed over 30 sections for spectators in the arena. Butler spent his first week on set filming the scene, while the set had very high temperatures that caused some people to faint. He also improvised his kiss scene with the Baron.

For romantic scenes between Paul and Chani, the scenes were primarily filmed in remote locations in Jordan during the golden hour. The scenes were often filmed as quickly as possible, with only a one-hour window being available. The scene of Paul's sandworm ride was filmed practically on a production unit, separate from the main one, led by producer Tanya Lapointe and a special team. Chalamet filmed his scenes on a platform meant to imitate a portion of the sandworm, with gripping devices serving as the reference for the Fremen hooks. An industrial fan blew sand on set to emulate the desert climate. Chalamet estimated the scene took over three months to film, with individual shoots occurring over a span of 20–30 minutes. As the actual sandworm was not built and there were no reference shots, the production team designed a small portion of the worm on set and the actors had to physically visualize and imitate riding the sandworm.

Butler and Chalamet separately trained with a Kali instructor in Los Angeles for the climactic battle between Paul and Feyd-Rautha. They were excited to do the scene, and immediately began practicing once they later met in Budapest. They performed the scene by themselves, including for wide camera shots. Chalamet delivers the monologue entirely in Chakobsa. Ferguson cited Lady Jessica undergoing the Reverend Mother process as her favorite scene, working with contortionists for the scene and comparing it to an Exorcist film.