Denis Villeneuve is glad he didn’t shoot Dune 1 & 2 back-to-back

At long last, the release of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is nearly upon us. I’ve been anxiously awaiting Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic for quite some time, but there’s been a part of me that’s scared we won’t get to see the complete story. The saga of Dune is too vast to include in just one film, and Denis Villeneuve quickly made it known that he wanted to make Dune 2, with early rumours saying that the sequel would be shot back-to-back with the first film.

That didn’t wind up happening and Denis Villeneuve explained to Games Radar why he was glad he didn’t shoot the two movies together.

That’s what my first idea was, to shoot them together. Then, like the Lord of the Rings, release one after the other, a year apart. But that was too expensive. And frankly, I’m grateful that it didn’t happen as I wished because I would have been too exhausted. During the first one, I needed all my stamina – I needed all my energy. It would have been too much to do both back-to-back shooting in the desert. I learned so much [while filming] Part One that, if ever it happens, I can make a better movie with Part Two. And I’m grateful that it happened in this way. I prefer to be in this position right now than having shot both movies back-to-back and having regrets because I was too tired.

We’ve seen just how expansive Denis Villeneuve’s Dune will be, and with Dune 2 looking to be even bigger than the first movie, it’s in our best interest to have Villeneuve well-rested and at the top of his game. The director also described why Dune is titled onscreen as Dune: Part One. “For me it was necessary,” Villeneuve said. “It was always meant to be a two-part movie and it was always meant to have “Part One” at the beginning because I feel like it would be misleading and dishonest to pretend that it’s the whole story being told in a single movie. I wanted the audience to understand, right from the start, that they were about to see the first part of a bigger story.“

With the box-office for Dune looking promising, I’d say our chances of Dune 2 are pretty good. Keep your fingers crossed! Dune will be released in theaters tomorrow, so be sure to check out a review from our own Chris Bumbray.