Denis Villeneuve's Dune hasn't even released and many are already anticipating its sequel, but Warner Bros. hasn't greenlit Dune 2 yet - here's why. Villeneuve has been attached to direct Dune since 2016, but he's had it on his mind even longer. As a fan of the seminal novel by Frank Herbert, the director has long had plans to adapt Dune for the big screen and part of those plans include splitting Dune's story into two movies. This is partly because the plot of the book and movie is so dense it could hardly be covered in one two-and-a-half hour film.
Dune follows Timothée Chalamet's Paul Atreides, heir to House Atreides and son of Oscar Isaac's Duke Leto and Rebecca Ferguson's Lady Jessica. When the galactic emperor calls on House Atreides to take stewardship over the planet Arrakis, the family is thrown into the midst of a conspiracy that threatens to destroy everything they've built. Part of the reason Dune the novel is so acclaimed (and its adaptations so poorly received) is because Herbert's complex and layered world-building and mythology is set against the backdrop of a vast and truly epic world, making bringing it to the big screen extremely difficult.
With Warner Bros. pumping so much money into Dune with an estimated budget of $165 million before marketing, the studio seems hesitant to greenlight a sequel before knowing whether or not the initial film will be well-received. Dune only grows in scope in the second half of the first novel and Dune 2 will need a similar, if not higher, budget than the first film. Seeing as Dune is so dense and even seen as inaccessible to some, Warner Bros. likely wants a guarantee that people are interested in a sequel before giving Villeneuve the go-ahead to make it.
As a series, Dune has massive franchise potential and Warner Bros. seems reticent to dive right in before testing the waters. Curiously, that hasn't stopped them from developing an HBO Max spinoff show about the mysterious matriarchal order the Bene Gesserit. Complicating things further is the nature of release. Dune will hit theaters and HBO Max at the same time, potentially crippling its box office take. Warner Bros. has said they will take HBO Max viewership into account when considering a sequel, though, and they absolutely should.
So far, Dune has received positive reviews from both critics and fans and with the film about to debut, talks are likely happening in regards to Dune 2. Still, there's no telling when a sequel announcement could come. Warner Bros. will want to wait a few weeks to see how Dune performs at the domestic box office and with the film available on HBO Max for a full month, they could very well wait until it is taken off streaming to make a final decision. Audiences may have been waiting some time for the release of Dune, but they'll have to wait just a little bit longer for any definitive news about Dune 2.
