Denis Villeneuve says his Dune remake will consist of at least two films

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Over the years, Frank Herbert's "Dune" has proven to be a notoriously difficult project to adapt. As the novel is quite dense, it's been almost impossible to whittle down the story in order to get it to fit into a single film, but it seems that Denis Villeneuve may have found a way around that. The BLADE RUNNER 2049 director will be the next to tackle DUNE, and he offered a quick update (via The Playlist) while speaking to a packed house in Montreal’s Place des Arts’ Théâtre Maisonneuve for the Rendez-Vous du Cinema Quebecois this week.

Dune will probably take two years to make. The goal is to make two films, maybe more.

I did say a quick update didn't I? Who knows whether the DUNE remake will even come together at this point, but expanding the project into two films (or more) would certainly be a good way to ensure that much of the story won't be cut out. After being thrilled with what Denis Villeneuve was able to do with BLADE RUNNER 2049, I'm certainly excited to see his take on DUNE, but I can only hope that it will actually prove successful enough to warrant a sequel. Villeneuve's plans for DUNE are ambitious, and he's previously said that he hopes to make DUNE into the STAR WARS movie he never saw. "Most of the main ideas of Star Wars are coming from Dune so it’s going to be a challenge to [tackle] this," Villeneuve said. "The ambition is to do the Star Wars movie I never saw. In a way, it’s Star Wars for adults. We’ll see."

Before the 1984 David Lynch film, there were several attempts to bring "Dune" to the big-screen, most notably by Alejandro Jodorowsky, but Denis Villeneuve has said that he won't be looking at previous incarnations for inspiration. "No," Villeneuve said. "Because Jodorowsky is a very unique visionary. He has a very strong, unique vision. I am a total different human being. It would be very presumptuous and arrogant for me to try. I would love to talk to him. I’ve wanted to meet him for a long time. I think he’s a fantastic filmmaker and I would have loved to see his Dune. I think it would be a very singular Jodorowsky movie. Will it have been the vision I have for Dune? Very far away. I mean, I am sure because he is so unique." As for where Villeneuve will start with his DUNE remake, the director plans to begin with the very first book, adding that he will be "going back to the images that came out when I read it."