Since the weird, wild universe of “Dune” emerged from the pages of Frank Herbert’s novel in 1965, filmmakers have yearned to bring it to the screen. In the 1970s, Alejandro Jodorowsky was thwarted in his attempt to turn his elaborate vision into cinematic reality. In 1984, David Lynch was forced to cram volumes of lore into two hours, and the result was an ugly-beautiful disaster. In the latest foray, Denis Villeneuve has created an engrossing, believable world, smartly dividing the first book in the series into two parts. “Dune: Part One” was a critical and box office hit when it was released in 2021, and now “Part Two,” which opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, is poised to pick up where the last film left off. Here’s a primer to bring you up to speed.
Where are we?
“Dune” is set about 20,000 years in the future, and much of the series takes place on the desert planet of Arrakis. Part of the galactic empire of the Imperium, which is ruled by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam, Arrakis is vital because it offers a necessary resource — spice — that exists nowhere else. In “Part One,” the emperor transferred control of Arrakis from the brutes of House Harkonnen to their longtime foes, House Atreides. But the gift was a trap, something Duke Leto Atreides suspected but hoped to turn to his advantage by establishing an alliance with the Fremen, a native people of Arrakis who live mostly in its hidden corners. Before Leto’s plans could bear fruit, the emperor secretly sent his elite force to aid Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) in regaining control of the planet and in destroying Leto’s troops and family. (In the process, Leto died.)
Why is spice so important?
“Part Two” opens with the words “Power over spice is power over all.” After a religious revolt against robots millenniums before the start of the series, the use of intelligent machines was banned. People have since relied on preternatural abilities that are developed through training and the use of psychotropic drugs such as spice, which can expand consciousness and extend life. The resource is particularly crucial to the navigators, who enable interstellar travel.
What’s the deal with Paul Atreides?
Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) is the son of Leto and his concubine, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), who is a member of the Bene Gesserit, a mystical sisterhood that surreptitiously manipulates the levers of power. It has been seeding self-serving myths and conducting a breeding program for generations. The relationship between Leto and Jessica had been arranged in hopes that she would give birth to a daughter who could then conceive the Kwisatz Haderach — a male Bene Gesserit with “a mind powerful enough to bridge all space and time.” Instead, Jessica bore Leto the son he desired. (A Bene Gesserit can control everything that goes on in her body.)
Though Reverend Mother Mohiam (Charlotte Rampling), Jessica’s Bene Gesserit mentor, suspected that Paul was in fact the Kwisatz Haderach, she was also aware of the Harkonnens’ plot to murder him. During the attack on the Atreides, the Harkonnen forces chased Paul and Jessica into a treacherous sand storm and assumed that it killed them. But they survived and crossed paths with a Fremen group that is led by Stilgar (Javier Bardem), an ally of Leto, and that includes Chani (Zendaya), a young woman who had been appearing in Paul’s dreams.
What happens now?
In “Part Two,” we will finally meet Emperor Shaddam (Christopher Walken); his daughter, Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh); and Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler), nephew and heir of Baron Harkonnen. We will also see Paul and Chani’s love blossom as he assimilates into the Fremen way of life — taking the name Muad’Dib, learning to summon and ride giant sandworms — and then rises up to lead the Fremen rebellion.
What remains to be seen is how Villeneuve will handle the contradiction at the heart of “Dune”: Despite its resemblance to a hero’s journey, Herbert intended it to be a cautionary tale against placing all hope and power in a savior. He clarified this point in the subsequent five books he wrote for the series, starting with the first sequel, “Dune Messiah.”
Will Villeneuve make ‘Part Three’?
The director recently said he was working on a screenplay of “Dune Messiah,” which would be the third and final film in the series. The plot takes place 12 years after the events in the first book, and he has said he would like to wait a couple of years to allow Chalamet to age into the role. But Warner Bros. has yet to officially approve that project.
