Denis Villeneuve Says ‘Dune: Part Two’ Hinges On The Box Office Outcome, But Feels “Optimistic” & Is Currently Writing

The sci-fi epic “Dune” won’t be released to the public until October 22 in theaters and HBO Max, but there is already development on the script for “Dune: Part Two.” Legendary and director Denis Villeneuve (“Arrival,” “Blade Runner 2049“) decided early on to split the original novel from Frank Herbert into two movies, telling one single story.

While speaking with Total Film, the Canadian filmmaker revealed that they’re in the screenwriting process and that the studio would have to see a “really bad outcome” concerning “Dune”s box office, not to move forward with “Dune: Part Two.”

READ MORE: Denis Villeneuve Says ‘Dune’ Sequel Will See Zendaya’s Chani Become The Protagonist

“So the first thing was to prove that there was a beautiful, popular movie that can exist, and I think that I proved that – everybody at Warner Bros and Legendary, they are 100 percent behind the project. They feel that it would need a really bad outcome at the box office to not have a Dune: Part Two because they love the movie. They are proud of the movie, so they want the movie to move forward. And they still did half of it. So, you know, I’m very optimistic,” Villeneuve told Total Film on what needs to happen for “Dune: Part Two” to become a reality.

Villeneuve also reiterated he’s writing the film (expected to be alongside screenwriter Jon Spaihts) and expressed his child-like enthusiasm working on it.

“I’m writing [Part Two] now, and I feel like I’m eight years old again. That’s very uncommon for me. It’s the first time I’ve experienced it where I’m watching one of my movies, and I have a moment of deep gratitude, of deep joy, and I say, ‘Thank you, life, for having allowed me to bring that to the screen.’ [laughs] I don’t know how other people will feel about it. But me? Denis Villeneuve when he was 14 years old? Thank you.”

The director also sees the two films as two parts of one film, which is logical given he’s adapting a single novel.

“There’s no such thing as Dune 1 and Dune 2. It’s Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two,” Villeneuve said of how he sees the two films.

We already have an idea of where they’ll be going with the second installment as Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) will become a religious figure on Arrakis, rallying the local population, The Fremen, to his new army to destroy the brutal forces of House Harkonnen.

Villeneuve revealed recently that Zendaya’s Chani would be “the protagonist” of “Dune: Part Two,“ and telling Paul’s rise to power among the Fremen from Chani’s perspective would certainly be a smart way to tell the second half of the story.

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We’ll have to wait to see how “Dune” ultimately does at the global box office later this year to gauge if the sequel will get made or not, but by the sounds of things that it’ll have to be really bad for Legendary/Warner Bros. not to move forward with it.