Dune 2 will be "pure cinematic pleasure," Denis Villeneuve says

Denis Villeneuve has talked about his plans for Dune 2.

"If such a thing as Dune: Part Two happens, I will say that it's going to be an insane playground for me," Villeneuve told Variety, explaining that he "can just have fun with cinema" in the sequel since he won't have to spend time setting up the world again.

"It's going to be just like pure cinematic pleasure for the second part," he said. "I don't want to speak for everybody on the team, but I will say that we really created on this movie a feeling of family and to re-unify everybody again together, that would be paradise."

Villeneuve recently told Total Film that he's feeling good about Dune's chances of getting a sequel: "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."

Variety also note that Dune's simultaneous release on HBO Max means a smaller box office result amid the pandemic shouldn't stand in the way of the potential to make a sequel – and, according to the report, turnout in theaters has corresponded with HBO Max viewing figures, meaning successful performances at the box office have translated into higher audiences on the streamer, and vice versa. 

The film debuted at Venice Film Festival to mostly positive reviews, standing at 87% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing. Our own five-star review described the film as "jaw-dropping in its invention and boldness."

Dune arrives to theaters and on HBO Max in the US this October 22. Until then, check out our guide to all of 2021's upcoming major movie release dates.