Beyond Fest runs September 25th – October 9th, 2024.
Preview:
Beyond Fest is back in Los Angeles for its 12 year later this month.
‘Salem’s Lot,’ ‘The Brutalist’ and more will receive premieres.
Filmmakers including Sam Raimi, Shane Black and more will present retrospectives.
Now entering its 12th year, the highest-attended genre film festival in the US, Beyond Fest is back offering even more exciting screenings and talks with filmmakers.
The event, which has brought first looks at new movies and more to fans for years, is back this month, boasting 82 features, including 16 World Premieres, 4 International Premieres, 1 North American Premiere, 3 US Premieres, and 25 West Coast Premieres.
(L to R) Danny Glover and Mel Gibson in ‘Lethal Weapon’. Photo: Warner Bros.
This year’s event runs between September 25th – October 9th.
In partnership with the American Cinematheque and presented exclusively by distributor NEON, Beyond Fest will screen at the Egyptian Theatre, Aero Theatre, Los Feliz 3, and Vista Theatre.
Here’s what Head of Programming Evrim Ersoy has to say about this year’s fest:
“Combining a celebration of cinema whilst firmly focusing our gaze on the next generation of filmmakers has always been at the heart of the Beyond Fest. And this year we have even more opportunity to bring together the full spectrum of genre filmmaking to the community that is at the core of everything we do: from Kiyoshi Kurosawa to Brady Corbet, Jennifer Kent to Sam Raimi, we have created a program that embraces all corners of the cinematic spectrum.”
What could I see at the 2024 Beyond Fest?
2024’s Salem’s Lot. Photo: Warners Bros.
In its inimitable style, Beyond Fest is blending exciting new movies with the chance to experience old favorites and listen to the people who made them.
Knight wrote the script, with Tom Harper directing.
We already know that series star (and, following the ceremony earlier this year, Academy Award winner for ‘Oppenheimer’) Cillian Murphy is returning as smart criminal overseer Tommy Shelby.
Now, via Deadline, there is news that ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise veteran and ‘Dune’ star Rebecca Ferguson will also appear in the movie in an unspecified role. Could she be a new antagonist for Tommy?
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What’s the story of ‘Peaky Blinders’?
Cillian Murphy in ‘Peaky Blinders’. Photo: Netflix.
The series, which began life on Britain’s BBC Two in 2013, is a crime drama centered on a family of mixed Irish Traveler and Romani origins based in Birmingham, England, starting in 1919, several months after the end of World War I.
It’s named after the Peaky Blinders street gang and their ambitious, cunning crime boss Shelby (Murphy). The show has since run for six seasons.
Netflix, spotting an opportunity to pick up a well-loved series, snagged the rights in 2014 and it has since gone on to win multiple awards.
In case you’re wondering, the “peaky blinders” referred to the gang’s sartorial efforts. distinctive fashion sense, including colorful clothing and peaked newsboy caps. At the time, “peaky” was a common term for flat caps with a peak, and “blinder” was a Birmingham slang term for someone who looked dapper. In less legal terms, they were also infamous for pulling the brims of their caps down when they attacked someone so as not to be recognized.
What will the ‘Peaky Blinders’ movie be about?
Cillian Murphy in ‘Peaky Blinders’. Photo: Netflix.
When we last saw Tommy Shelby, he had killed off his cousin Michael (Finn Cole) and rode off into the sunset on a white steed after handing the reins of the family business to sister Ada (Sophie Rundle).
Nothing has been officially released about the movie’s plot yet, though Knight has previously suggested that it’ll chronicle the gang’s efforts during World War II.
Who else is joining Cillian Murphy in the ‘Peaky Blinders’ movie?
Cillian Murphy in ‘Peaky Blinders’. Photo: Netflix.
Aside from Ferguson, who would be a new character, there is no official confirmation for anyone besides Murphy.
But there has been plenty of speculation that the likes of Cole, Rundle, Paul Anderson, Natasha O’Keefe, and Harry Kirton, who play members of the Shelby family, could all show up.
As of right now, we’ll just have to wait and see.
When will the ‘Peaky Blinders’ movie be on screens?
Netflix has yet to confirm either a theatrical release or a launch date for the movie on its servers.
Rebecca Ferguson in ‘Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One’ from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.
The next chapter in Paul Atreides’ story takes shape in ‘Dune: Part Two’, and is now available on VOD, with the home release coming in May 2024.
Based on Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, the follow-up to the 2021 ‘Dune’ was originally slated to release on October 20, 2023. However, the film was delayed due to the WGA and SAG strike. The film finally premiered on March 1, 2024. ‘Dune: Part Two’ received positive reviews from critics and audiences alike.
With ‘Dune’ taking home five Academy Awards, including Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, Best Orignal Score, and Best Production Design, it is very possible to see ‘Dune: Part Two’ snagging nominations for the 2025 awards season.
Did you miss the epic sci-fi sequel on the big screen? You’re in luck. The movie is now available on VOD for rent or purchase, so you can watch it from the comfort of your couch, no sandworms necessary.
‘Dune: Part Two’ has a runtime of 2 hours and 47 minutes. As of April 16, 2024, the movie was made available to rent for $24.99 or purchase for $29.99 on VOD platforms such as Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube, and Vudu. Apple TV includes over 100 minutes of bonus content included in the digital version. Take a deeper look at the character of Dune, the Freman language, sandworm-riding, costumes, music, and more.
With ‘Dune: Part Two’ raking in over $637 million at the global box office, what is next for ‘Dune’? In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly in 2021, Director Denis Villeneuve says he’s “always envisioned three movies.” to fully round out the Paul Atreides story. He has also mentioned that a script for the third movie is in the works.
“I always envisioned three movies. It’s not that I want to do a franchise, but this is ‘Dune,’ and ‘Dune’ is a huge story. In order to honor it, I think you would need at least three movies. That would be the dream. To follow Paul Atreides and his full arc would be nice.”
Filming a sci-fi epic is no easy task, and the director mentions the possibility of taking a break between ‘Dune: Part Two’ and ‘Dune: Messiah’. However, the third film, ‘Dune: Messiah’ is in active development.
‘Dune: Part Two’ will be released on DVD, Blu-Ray, and 4K UHD on May 14th. Collectors can also look forward to a 2-film collection from Target. The home release will feature over an hour of bonus content:
Watch the final trailer for ‘Dune: Part Two’ below:
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The official synopsis for ‘Dune: Part Two’ is below:
Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the universe, he must prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
Denis Villeneuve is officially developing ‘Dune: Messiah’.
He’s also attached to adapt ‘Nuclear War: A Scenario’.
There’s are other projects also on his To Do list.
As ‘Dune: Part Two’ continues to do well at the box office (it’s the highest-grossing movie of the year so far, with $637 million globally), talk has naturally turned to what co-writer/director Denis Villeneuve might be considering as a follow-up.
The filmmaker has plenty of options on the table, with a development schedule that includes both a third ‘Dune’ outing, a historical epic featuring Egyptian queen Cleopatra and an adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s sci-fi tome ‘Rendezvous with Rama’.
Now, if Legendary has it’s ways, the director will be focusing on getting ‘Dune: Messiah’ made and adding another possible film, adapting Annie Jacobsen’s book ‘Nuclear War: A Scenario’.
“I always envisioned three movies. It’s not that I want to do a franchise, but this is ‘Dune’, and ‘Dune’ is a huge story. In order to honor it, I think you would need at least three movies. That would be the dream. To follow Paul Atreides and his full arc would be nice.”
Since then, he’s gone on the record to say the script for the third movie is in the works (with Villeneuve once more working alongside Jon Spaihts) but has also commented on the possibility of taking a break between ‘Part Two’ and ‘Messiah’. Which is not a surprise given the heavy challenges of bringing these giant films to light.
Still, Deadline’s story on Legendary purchasing the rights to ‘Nuclear War: A Scenario’ for Villeneuve to work on does mention that ‘Dune: Messiah’ is in active development, so there’s every chance it could be his next film (or after ‘Rendezvous with Rama’ if that really goes ahead) and ‘Nuclear War’ will wait in the wings.
Jacobsen’s tome recently hit the New York Times bestseller lists. The book explores a ticking-clock scenario about what would happen in the event of a nuclear war, based on dozens of exclusive new interviews with military and civilian experts who built the weapons and have been privy to the response plans and have been responsible for those decisions should they need to be made.
Quite what Villeneuve –– who will produce the adaptation with producing partner Tanya Lapointe –– will do with the subject if he ends up writing or directing it, remains to be seen. In the wake of ‘Oppenheimer’s success at the box office and more recently at the Oscars, we could certainly see it turning into a cautionary tale about use of weapons of mass destruction in such a politically volatile era as our own.
And it’s not like the filmmakers doesn’t have experience with nuclear weapons –– the atomic weapons of House Atreides factored into the plot of ‘Dune: Part Two’. So you know he can deliver bang for Legendary’s buck.
After escaping unscathed from a car accident photo model Simone (Pascale Bussières) decides that having a baby is the only way to give her vacant life some meaning. She asks her best friend Philippe (Alexis Martin) to get her pregnant and he reluctantly agrees on the condition that they conceive somewhere in a desert, so they leave Montréal on a 24-hour roundtrip to Salt Lake City to find a suitable spot.
A mother’s last wishes send twins Jeanne (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin) and Simon (Maxim Gaudette) on a journey to Middle East in search of their tangled roots. Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad’s acclaimed play, ‘Incendies’ tells the powerful and moving tale of two young adults’ voyage to the core of deep-rooted hatred, never-ending wars and enduring love.
A young woman’s life (Marie-Josée Croze) spirals into chaos after she is involved in a hit-and-run accident. Then she encounters a mysterious man named Evian (Jean-Nicolas Verreault) who offers her an opportunity for redemption. Narrated by a fish.
(L to R) Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman in ‘Prisoners.’ Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is facing a parent’s worst nightmare: his young daughter (Erin Gerasimovich) and her friend (Kyla-Drew Simmons) have gone missing. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) arrests the only suspect – the driver of an RV (Paul Dano) on which the girls had been playing – but a lack of evidence forces his release. As pressure mounts, Loki’s team pursues multiple leads while a frantic Dover decides he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands.
Amy Adams in ‘Arrival.’ Photo: Paramount Pictures.
Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist (Amy Adams) is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.
(L to R) Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Javier Bardem and Timothée Chalamet in ‘Dune.’ Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence-a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential-only those who can conquer their fear will survive.
(L to R) Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford in ‘Blade Runner 2049.’ Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. K’s discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.
An idealistic FBI agent (Emily Blunt) is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the US and Mexico. Also starring Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin.
Follow the mythic journey of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as he unites with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, Paul endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with acclaimed filmmaker Denis Villeneuve about his work on ‘Dune: Part Two,’ the decision to split the book into two movies, pacing challenges, changes he made to the source material, shooting the sandworm scenes, utilizing black and white imagery, and casting Austin Butler and Florence Pugh in their pivotal roles.
Moviefone: To begin with, even after making the decision to split the first book in half and make two different movies, there is a lot of Frank Herbert’s story left to tell. Can you talk about the challenges of finding the right tone and pacing for this sequel, especially with the addition of new characters this time around?
Denis Villeneuve: I think it’s a good question. First, it was important for me that the movie would be kind of autonomous, meaning that someone who has not seen ‘Dune’ could still enjoy ‘Part Two.’ So, we gave enough hints at the beginning of the story to make sure that it was kind of autonomous. Of course, it’s a better journey if you have seen ‘Dune,’ but I tried that. That was one of the first challenges. Then it’s a story that is quite different than the last movie. In ‘Dune,’ we follow a boy that is discovering a world and is getting in contact with a new culture. It’s a boy that will be victim of the events, that will try to survive an attack, but he doesn’t have any control. It’s a much more contemplative, meditative movie. ‘Part Two,’ that boy becomes a man, a leader, a fighter, and he wants to avenge his father. It’s more of an action movie, so it has a different rhythm, a different pacing that I had to find in the screen writing at first. But still, it was very important for me to take the time to put on the screen as much of the Fremen culture as possible. That’s my favorite thing about the book. That is one of the main reasons I insisted making two movies instead of one, because I wanted to have the necessary amount of time to dig a little in the culture to see the rituals, to see the way the people are praying, the way they are eating, the way that they train, the way the people are and their survival techniques in the desert. I’m grateful that I had enough time at the beginning of the film to express that.
MF: Can you talk about some of the changes you made to the source material, particularly expanding the role of the female characters?
DV: Yeah, it’s fundamental. It’s crucial to the success of the movie. The idea here is that it all starts with Frank Herbert being disappointed by the way people perceived the first book. He realized that people thought that the first book was a celebration of a hero, a celebration of Paul Atreides and he wanted to do the opposite. He wanted the first book to be a cautionary tale, a warning against charismatic figures and to correct that, to bring precisions about his intentions, he wrote a tiny book called ‘Dune Messiah’ that is a kind of an epilogue that is like a last chapter of Paul Atreides’ journey. Knowing that fact about Frank Herbert and having read of course ‘Dune Messiah,’ I decided to make my live adaptation. I decided to be more faithful to Frank Herbert than to the book and what I did is I used both the two female characters which are Chani and the mother, Jessica. Both characters in the second part of the book disappear, they go more in the background. They are under the shadow of Paul, and they disappear. I gave both strong lines, a dramatic arc and a precise agenda, making them two eminent characters. That’s one of the big differences. Chani is a very important character. She allows me to have a critical distance with Paul. She allows me to have perspective on Paul’s transformation and from Chani’s perspective. The movie goes in the direction that Frank Herbert wanted his book to.
MF: Can you talk about casting Austin Butler and Florence Pugh in their pivotal roles?
DV: First, Florence, of course I knew Florence from her work and I’m a big fan of Florence. I thought of her first for it and when I met her, it was clear, after a few minutes of our meeting that I was in front of Princess Irulan. I wanted to create a character that will have inner strength and that will never be perceived as a victim. I wanted an actress that could convey only with the way she’s listening. I wanted someone with a strong presence that the audience could see just in the way she was witnessing events or listening to other characters, that they feel her presence on her own journey, but she’s more of a witness in this story. Of course, if there’s a ‘Dune Messiah’ as we plan, she’ll become one of the prominent characters of that whole series. I’m doing a bit of what I did with Zendaya in the first movie. I introduced Chani in ‘Dune’ and then she becomes one of the main characters in ‘Part Two.’ I do the same with Florence, I just introduced her in ‘Part Two’ and if there’s a ‘Dune Messiah,’ she becomes one of the main characters. For Austin, I was very curious about Austin, having seen him in a few movies, specifically the Quentin Tarantino movie, ‘Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood,’ and learning more about this actor that I found quite riveting. Baz Luhrmann shared with me some scenes from ‘Elvis’ and was raving about him. I met with Austin, and I was very impressed by him. I knew that someone who could bring Elvis to the screen the way he did could almost do anything and what he did for that movie is incredibly difficult. So, I knew that he could have all the qualities that I was looking for Feyd-Rautha, but it was a gamble. When I saw him, with all the makeup and in costume, I knew I had made the right choice, but casting, it’s all about very strong intuitions. You do a camera test, but no matter how much we are sold on it, it’s always when you start rolling camera on the first take that you know. With both actors, I was floored, like, “Oh, they nailed it.” They had big shoes to fill because I think those characters are iconic characters in the novel, both Princess Irulan and Feyd-Rautha and they had tremendous pressure on their shoulders. I’m very proud of them.
MF: Can you talk about the choice to introduce the Harkonnen home world and in particular Feyed-Rautha in black and white?
DV: The idea came from the book. One of the aspects that I love in the book is the idea that, the book is a study of the impact of the ecosystem on human beings, all from the nature of the ecosystem, the human developed religions, techniques, and ways of survival, all their culture, we are the product of our environment and when you want to know about the Fremen, you just look at the desert and it will inform you about the native people. I love this idea and I tried, for Giedi Prime, the home world of Harkonnen, there’s less information in the book and it’s a world that is disconnected from nature. It’s a plastic world. So, I thought that it could be interesting if the light, the sunlight could give us some insight on their psyche. What if instead of revealing colors, the sunlight was killing them and creating a very eerie black and white world, that will give us information about how these people perceive reality, about their political system, about how that primitive brutalist culture and it was in the screenplay. (Cinematographer) Greig (Fraser) was tremendously inspired by that, and we were making tests. I wanted a black and white that would seem alien and coming from another world, a sunlight that we have not seen in cinema. Greig came up with this idea of infrared which I absolutely loved, and we shot the movie that way. The only thing is that when you film this way, there’s no way back. I said, “You have to know that. Okay, we are doing this and there will be no way back. So, we cannot put color after it’s over.” That’s the thing I love about (producer) Mary Parent is that she’s good, she does not operate by fear, and she supported the idea one hundred percent.
MF: Finally, can you talk about executing your vision for the sandworm riding scenes and did the final version end up looking the way you had imagined?
DV: Absolutely. It’s a scene that I didn’t want to make any compromises. I really wanted to bring the images that were in my mind when I was a boy reading the book. I put a lot of pressure on my crew too and we took the time, but it was very challenging. It’s the most difficult scene I’ve ever done technically, but I’m very lucky I was able to find the right tools to first figure out the Fremen technique. How do you jump on the worm actually? Because it’s very basic, the book does not really explain how to do it, so I wanted to find a way that will look plausible. Then once I found the technique, I had to figure out for myself how to bring that to life. I came up with a theory of how to shoot this and that to my great relief it worked out. The thing is that I wanted to shoot everything as much as possible on camera with natural light. So, it meant that it really required a tenuous amount of time, and it required also some technology that we had to design to create different worms. I was very keen to the fact that the studio embraced my ambition.
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What is the plot of ‘Dune: Part Two’?
With the planet Arrakis and its valuable spice now firmly in the grip of Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) and his depraved minions, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother (Rebecca Ferguson) seek revenge against the Harkonnens for the destruction of the Atreides family. Striking from the hidden depths of the desert alongside the planet’s native people, the Fremen, Paul also begins to realize that he may be the powerful leader foretold in ancient prophecies.
Just when you thought that director Denis Villeneuve couldn’t make a bigger science fiction epic than 2021’s ‘Dune’ (aka ‘Dune: Part One’), he completes his adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic novel in spectacular, often mind-blowing fashion. Everything about ‘Dune: Part Two’ expands the scope of the story, which can be confusing from time to time but still manages to be both rousing and unsettling.
At the end of ‘Dune: Part One,’ the House Atreides – stewards of the planet Arrakis and its valuable, consciousness-altering ‘spice’ – was destroyed and Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac) murdered by the grotesque Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) and his evil minions. Only Leto’s son Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and Paul’s mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) have seemingly survived, fleeing into the desert where they fall into the hands of the planet’s Indigenous people, the Fremen.
‘Dune: Part Two’ picks up these story strands immediately, and as a result it might take you a bit of the first act to get up to speed (a quick rewatch of the first movie might help as well). As Paul and his mother learn the ways of the Fremen, and Paul grows close to a Fremen warrior named Chani (Zendaya), the Fremen leader Stilgar (Javier Bardem) grows more and more convinced that Paul is the messiah of the Fremen people foretold by an ancient prophecy.
What Stilgar doesn’t know — or denies — is that the prophecy was seeded on Arrakis by the Bene Gesserit, an all-female religious order that has practiced selective breeding for eons to produce the messiah, known to the Bene Gesserit as the Kwisatz Haderach. Beset by increasingly dire visions thanks to his consumption of spice, Paul does not want to embrace the role seemingly given to him: not only does he know that his mother, a member of the Bene Gesserit, was involved in the order’s machinations, but he sees a future in which his leadership leads to billions of deaths across the universe.
At the same time, as the Fremen under Paul’s leadership strike the Harkonnens’ operations and bring spice production to a standstill, the Emperor of the Universe (Christopher Walken) puts pressure on Baron Harkonnen to find the Fremen leader and destroy him. Frustrated with his nephew Rabban’s (Dave Bautista) failed attempts, Harkonnen enlists his other nephew, Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler), a psychotic human malignancy who intends to destroy Paul and the Fremen with him, with higher ambitions on his diseased mind as well.
The summary above doesn’t even quite scratch the surface of the complexity of the story in ‘Dune: Part Two,’ and if this massively immersive and entertaining film does have a flaw, it’s probably that the movie occasionally suffers from some pacing and editing issues that can make the plot confusing from time to time. But this is a relatively minor issue: ‘Dune: Part Two’ and its mix of far future sci-fi, mysticism, political intrigue, and ecological themes is gripping from the start.
Like the novel itself (a dense, multilayered read), the screen version of ‘Dune’ doesn’t operate on simple levels of good and evil. Chalamet’s Paul Atreides is truly conflicted about the future he sees for himself and the universe, and only a series of shocking revelations toward the end of the film push him to finally accept his destiny – but when he does, there are unsettling hints that the Fremen and the Bene Gesserit should have been careful what they wished for all these centuries.
In the end, even though it’s set more than 8,000 years in the future (when humankind now lives among the stars), ‘Dune’ can depressingly remind us that even millennia from now, the human race could still be subject to the same weaknesses and actions that seemingly doom us now: insatiable greed, lust for power, hedonistic impulses that border on the depraved, and our apparently indefatigable urge to subjugate not just other humans but the very world we share and live on (some sequences chillingly echo events happening in the world today).
But don’t get us wrong: this is a sober, grandiose film, but not a somber meditation on the evils of men. ‘Dune: Part Two’ is at its heart a space opera, and a magnificent one. The viewer is completely drawn into the world of Arrakis and the other planets from the first frame. There has perhaps never been a science fiction film that so completely transports the viewer across time and space like this one (and its predecessor) does.
Villeneuve’s direction is assured throughout – even if certain plots strands aren’t quite as fleshed out as they should be – aided by Greig Fraser’s cinematography, the sound and production design, and Hans Zimmer’s powerful score. The battles are staged on a massive scale, and if you enjoyed your glimpse of the sandworms in the first movie, you’ll get your money’s worth here. This is a film that demands to be seen on the big screen, even in its most surreal, intimate moments.
Much of the cast of ‘Dune: Part One’ returns for the sequel, with the notable exceptions of Oscar Isaac and Jason Momoa, both of whose characters died in the first film. As Paul, Timothée Chalamet truly comes into his own just as the character does; the scenes in which Paul accepts that he is the ’Lisan al-Gaib’ (the Fremen terms for ‘offworld messiah’) are absolutely electric. Chalamet sells both Paul’s physical prowess and expanding mental abilities with gravitas and strength.
Just as electrifying is Rebecca Ferguson, who excels in film after film (see her in ‘Doctor Sleep’ sometime) and yet doesn’t seem to get the recognition she constantly deserves. Her Lady Jessica also undergoes a transformation of her own here, although on a different level than that of her son, and Ferguson portrays this powerful woman with nuance and subtlety.
Javier Bardem’s Stilgar is considerably fleshed out in this film, both as a passionate follower in the grip of religious fervor and as a surprisingly and welcome harbinger of some sly comic relief. Zendaya’s Chani also gets more to do this time, with the character both softening as she slowly falls for Paul and yet hardening at the same time as she realizes what his ascent could portend for Arrakis.
The new addition to the cast who will undoubtedly get quite a lot of ink is Austin Butler, fresh off his Oscar win for ‘Elvis’ and going in a completely different direction here, with his pale, corpse-like pallor, completely hairless head, and black, soulless eyes. Feyd-Rautha is so vicious that his brother Rabban and his uncle Baron Harkonnen – not to mention Emperor Shaddam IV (played as an exhausted yet still merciless tyrant by Christopher Walken) – are rightly afraid of him, and Butler projects a reptilian cold-bloodedness that is unnerving.
All the other returning and new players in the star-studded ensemble – Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux, Josh Brolin, and more – have smaller roles but all bring their A-game. Long gone are the days when science fiction movies didn’t demand top-notch acting all around.
As directors like Denis Villeneuve, Christopher Nolan, Alex Garland, and others push both original sci-fi projects and adaptations of landmark genre works to the screen, we may be living in a mini-Golden Age for science fiction cinema. And with ‘Arrival,’ ‘Blade Runner 2049,’ and now both parts of ‘Dune’ taking up much of his last decade of work, Villeneuve is unquestionably leading the charge with more to come (‘Dune: Part Two’ ends on a note that all but confirms that he will complete the tale with ‘Dune Messiah’).
With ‘Dune’ especially, not only does he respect the source material and is largely faithful to it, but he understands why the story itself has hung around for decades: it has a mythological potency and universal themes even as it expands our view of what the far future could look like. The entire ‘Dune’ project is serious filmmaking that embraces the scale and depth of a genre that wasn’t taken very seriously by Hollywood for years. ‘Dune: Part Two’ will challenge you intellectually and emotionally — even as its colossal and often genuinely weird imagery blows your mind clear out of your skull.
‘Dune: Part Two’ receives 8.5 out of 10 stars.
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What is the plot of ‘Dune: Part Two’?
With the planet Arrakis and its valuable spice now firmly in the grip of Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) and his depraved minions, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother (Rebecca Ferguson) seek revenge against the Harkonnens for the destruction of the Atreides family. Striking from the hidden depths of the desert alongside the planet’s native people, the Fremen, Paul also begins to realize that he may be the powerful leader foretold in ancient prophecies.
Denis Villeneuve is talking about his ‘Dune’ future.
Despite there being more books, he’s not sure he wants to make many more.
‘Dune: Part Two’ will be out in March.
Filmmaker Denis Villeneuve took on a big risk when he decided to tackle the first ‘Dune’ movie. David Lynch had tried and, while he did make the movie, it resulted in a big box office flop and curtailed a planned sequel.
For Villeneuve though, he succeeded in not only directing the movie, but then saw it score positive critical reactions, earn money at the box office (even with a day-and-date streaming release) and land six Oscars from 10 nominations.
And it has led to a sequel (‘Dune: Part Two’) that, though it has been delayed by Warner Bros. so that its stars can promote the movie in the wake of last year’s strike, is due in theaters next month.
But Villeneuve is now saying that, beyond a potential third movie –– ‘Dune Messiah’ –– he’s ready to be done making ‘Dune’ films.
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What Has Denis Villeneuve Said About His Future with ‘Dune’ Movies?
Talking with Time magazine to promote ‘Dune: Part Two’, Villeneuve was candid about the future:
“Dune Messiah should be the last Dune movie for me.”
That’s despite the fact that ‘Dune’ author Frank Herbert wrote six books in total, with more following via other authors, including his son. And ‘Dune’ only covers the first half of the original tome.
But Villeneuve, somewhat understandably, will be ready to move on after nearly a decade of his life (if a third is made). He has other projects he wants to focus on, including an adaptation of Stacy Schiff’s ‘Cleopatra’, currently being written by ‘1917’s Krysty Wilson-Cairns, and a version of Arthur C. Clarke’s futuristic classic ‘Rendezvous With Rama’.
‘Dune Messiah’ would continue the story of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as he deals with his increasing influence on the desert planet of Arrakis.
The biggest question about the third ‘Dune’ movie at the moment is the success of the second. But even though there is no official greenlight for ‘Dune Messiah’, work is underway on it.
Here’s what Villeneuve told the South Korean press at a ‘Dune: Part Two’ press conference:
“[The script is] being written right now. The screenplay is almost finished but it is not finished. It will take a little time… There’s a dream of making a third movie… It would make absolute sense to me.”
At the same event, he also speculated that he might squeeze in another movie before he looks to ‘Messiah’:
“I don’t know exactly when I will go back to Arrakis. I might make a detour before just to go away from the sun. For my mental sanity I might do something in between.”
Jason Momoa in ‘Once Upon a Time in Venice.’ Photo: RLJ Entertainment.
Steve Ford (Bruce Willis) is a private detective in Venice Beach, Calif., who’s good with the ladies, bad with the punches and wild about his dog Buddy. When local thugs steal Buddy, Ford turns to Spyder (Momoa), their devious leader, and forges an unlikely alliance. With help from his best friend (John Goodman), Steve pulls out the big guns to retrieve Spyder’s stolen cash and cocaine and save Buddy.
Nate Johnson (Cedric the Entertainer), a Los Angeles man estranged from his wife (Vanessa Williams) and three children, decides to reconnect with his family by taking them with him on a road trip to Missouri for a big family reunion.
Arlen (Suki Waterhouse) is sent to a fenced-off wasteland where undesirables are exiled to when she is kidnapped by a group of cannibals. She escapes and ends up on a journey to reunite a missing girl with her father.
Fuelled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s (Henry Cavill) selfless act, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) and Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) assemble a team of metahumans consisting of Barry Allen (Ezra Miller), Arthur Curry (Momoa) and Victor Stone (Ray Fisher) to face the catastrophic threat of Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds) and the Parademons who are on the hunt for three Mother Boxes on Earth.
(L to R) Isabela Merced and Jason Momoa in ‘Sweet Girl.’ Photo: Netflix.
A man (Momoa) vows to bring justice to those responsible for his wife’s (Adria Arjona) death while protecting the only family he has left, his daughter (Isabela Merced).
While Native American Robert Wolf (Momoa) is being pursued by the FBI for having taken the law into his own hands, when his mother was raped and killed on their reservation he crosses paths with Cash (Robert Homer Mollohan), a down and out musician who is coping with the end of his marriage. An unlikely friendship develops, as they ride together towards the Teton mountain range, where Wolf will spread his mothers ashes.
Six young computer hackers sent to work on a derelict space freighter, are forced to match wits with a vengeful artificial intelligence that would kill to be human.
The coming-of-age story of Cayden Richards (Lucas Till). Forced to hit the road after the murder of his parents, Cayden wanders lost without purpose… Until he meets a certifiable lunatic named Wild Joe (John Piper-Ferguson) who sets him on a path to the ominous town of Lupine Ridge to hunt down the truths of his history. But in the end| who’s really hunting whom?
When his attempt to save his family inadvertently alters the future, Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) becomes trapped in a reality in which General Zod (Michael Shannon) has returned and there are no Super Heroes to turn to. In order to save the world that he is in and return to the future that he knows, Barry’s only hope is to race for his life. But will making the ultimate sacrifice be enough to reset the universe?
Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), still driven by the need to avenge his father’s death and wielding the power of the mythic Black Trident, will stop at nothing to take Aquaman (Momoa) down once and for all. To defeat him, Aquaman must turn to his imprisoned brother Orm (Patrick Wilson), the former King of Atlantis, to forge an unlikely alliance in order to save the world from irreversible destruction.
(L to R) Marlow Barkley and Jason Momoa in ‘Slumberland.’ Photo: Netflix.
Slumberland takes audiences to a magical new place, a dreamworld where precocious Nemo (Marlow Barkley) and her eccentric companion Flip (Momoa) embark on the adventure of a lifetime. After her father Peter (Kyle Chandler) is unexpectedly lost at sea, young Nemo’s idyllic Pacific Northwest existence is completely upended when she is sent to live in the city with her well-meaning but deeply awkward uncle Phillip (Chris O’Dowd). Her new school and new routine are challenging by day but at night, a secret map to the fantastical world of Slumberland connects Nemo to Flip, a rough-around-the-edges but lovable outlaw who quickly becomes her partner and guide. She and Flip soon find themselves on an incredible journey traversing dreams and fleeing nightmares, where Nemo begins to hope that she will be reunited with her father once again.
Sylvester Stallone in ‘Bullet to the Head.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
After watching their respective partners die, a cop (Sung Kang) and a hitman (Sylvester Stallone) form an alliance in order to bring down their common enemy (Momoa).
2019’s ‘The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
It’s been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: LEGO DUPLO® invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild.
Jason Momoa in ‘Conan the Barbarian.’ Photo: Lionsgate.
A quest that begins as a personal vendetta for the fierce Cimmerian warrior soon turns into an epic battle against hulking rivals, horrific monsters, and impossible odds, as Conan (Momoa) realizes he is the only hope of saving the great nations of Hyboria from an encroaching reign of supernatural evil.
(L to R) Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill in ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
Fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill) at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.
Jason Momoa as Dante in ‘Fast X’, directed by Louis Leterrier.
Over many missions and against impossible odds, Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family have outsmarted, out-nerved and outdriven every foe in their path. Now, they confront the most lethal opponent they’ve ever faced: A terrifying threat emerging from the shadows of the past who’s fueled by blood revenge, and who is determined to shatter this family and destroy everything—and everyone—that Dom loves, forever.
Jason Momoa in ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
Determined to ensure Superman’s (Henry Cavill) ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) aligns forces with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions. The task proves more difficult than Bruce imagined, as each of the recruits must face the demons of their own pasts to transcend that which has held them back, allowing them to come together, finally forming an unprecedented league of heroes. Now united, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman (Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), and The Flash (Ezra Miller) may be too late to save the planet from Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds), DeSaad (Peter Guinness), and Darkseid (Ray Porter) and their dreadful intentions.
Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho in ‘Dune.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence-a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential-only those who can conquer their fear will survive.
(L to R) Jason Momoa and Amber Heard in ‘Aquaman.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
Once home to the most advanced civilization on Earth, Atlantis is now an underwater kingdom ruled by the power-hungry King Orm (Patrick Wilson). With a vast army at his disposal, Orm plans to conquer the remaining oceanic people and then the surface world. Standing in his way is Arthur Curry (Momoa), Orm’s half-human, half-Atlantean brother and true heir to the throne.
Yet director Denis Villeneuve remains confident in his follow-up to 2021’s ambitious science fiction epic and is in fact making early plans for a third movie.
Which is perhaps not too shocking since there is plenty of material. Author Frank Herbert, on whose ‘Dune’ the movies are based, continued the story of Arrakis in a series of subsequent novels, before his son Brian took over to continue it even further. The sand, therefore, is far from running out.
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What did Villeneuve say about a potential third Dune?
‘Dune Part Two’ CinemaCon 2023 Presentation and Press Line, April 25th. Photos By Eric Charbonneau.
While the first two movies adapt the original ‘Dune’ book, a third would target ‘Dune Messiah’.
“If I succeed in making a trilogy, that would be the dream. Dune Messiah was written in reaction to the fact that people perceived Paul Atreides as a hero. Which is not what he wanted to do. My adaptation [of ‘Dune’] is closer to his idea that it’s actually a warning. After that the books become more… esoteric.”
Sounds like he’ll be done with ‘Dune’ after any third film. Which, given the time and effort he put into the first two, is understandable, especially given all the delays (pandemic for the first, strikes for the second).
And in case you’re wondering whether this is just a filmmaker speculating, Villeneuve confirms that there are “words on paper” for a third movie. Likely not a script (given the writers’ strike) but at least an idea.
‘Dune: Part Two’ adapts the second half of Herbert’s novel and keeps the focus on Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet). He is, as you recall, the scion of House Atreides, whose father Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac) was ordered by the Emperor of the galaxy to take over running Arrakis, the desert planet from where the various space-going people mine valuable spice to help their navigators guide vessels.
It was, of course, part of a plan between the violent, cruel Harkonnen (led by Stellan Skarsgård’s Baron) and the Emperor to destroy the Atreides.
The new movie picks up the story after Paul and his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) flee into the desert following the devastating attack on the Atreides base by Harkonnen and Imperial forces. Paul is destined to rise as a spiritual and military leader of the native Fremen and lead an attack against the Harkonnen and the scheming Emperor.
Alongside Chalamet and Ferguson, we’ll see the return of Josh Brolin (who plays Atreides war master Gurney Halleck, another survivor of the attack) and Skarsgård, along with Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban Harkonnen, AKA “The Beast”.
On the Fremen side, we’ll get to properly meet Zendaya’s Chani, a Fremen warrior who haunted Paul’s dreams and visions long before he ever met her, and who is destined to become the great love of his life. And Javier Bardem’s Stilgar, leader of the Fremen people, who will work with Paul to attack the Harkonnen.
New this time? Florence Pugh, who plays Princess Irulan and Christopher Walken as her father, Emperor Shaddam IV.
On the Harkonnen side, there is the cunning, weapon happy Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, played by ‘Elvis’ Austin Butler.
‘Dune: Part Two’ will (hopefully) be in theaters on March 15th, 2024.
