COVER FEATURE
LIKE A COLOSSAL SANDWORM RACING TOWARDS THE RHYTHMIC BEAT OF A THUMPER, DUNE: PART TWO IS ALMOST UPON US. AND THIS TIME, IT’S WAR. TOTAL FILM RETURNS TO ARRAKIS WITH WRITER/DIRECTOR DENIS VILLENEUVE AND HIS (INTER)STELLAR CAST TO SPILL THE SPICE ON THE SCI-FI EVENT OF THE YEAR.
The word Muad’Dib has several meanings in the world of Dune. It is both a small, saucer-eared mouse that scurries across the desolate surface of Arrakis, and the chosen Fremen name of Paul Atreides, symbolising his destiny as one wise in the ways of the desert. For Dune director Denis Villeneuve and his star Timothée Chalamet, the word has added significance – ‘Muad’Dib time’ was the message Villeneuve sent Chalamet when Dune: Part Two got the greenlight in October 2021.
‘There were moments over the course of shooting the first film where I was yearning for Paul, after he left Caladan, to not still be in the process of formation,’ Chalamet explains, speaking to Total Film in early January, tousled hair screenperfect even for a Zoom call. ‘My most common way of expressing that was: “When does Paul become Muad’Dib?” [Denis] would always preach patience. In sending me that text, it was clear that this is the story where we would see Paul come into his own.’
Long-awaited following that agonising cliffhanger and an excruciating, strike-related delay; Dune: Part Two is the concluding instalment of Villeneuve’s breathtakingly tactile rendering of Frank Herbert’s seminal 1965 novel. Part One was a rare genre blockbuster embraced by audiences and typically sniffy awards bodies, cleaning up in the technical categories at the 2022 Oscars by winning best cinematography, editing, sound, visual effects, production design and score.
The decision to split the film in two ultimately proved as wise as the humble Muad’Dib – ask David Lynch who had a paltry 45 minutes to cover the same ground as Dune: Part Two in his critically compromised 1984 adaptation – but it was a risky strategy that meant, until those opening weekend numbers came in, a conclusive sequel was far from guaranteed.
‘When I was shooting [Part One], I remember saying to myself, “If that’s the only movie, I want to be at peace.” So I gave everything,’ Villeneuve recalls during a conversation with Total Film in Madrid, where the life-long fan of Herbert’s novel has just screened the first 12 minutes of Dune: Part Two, and further select scenes, in all their IMAX glory to a mouth-agape TF. ‘Of course, for me, it was not about box office. It was about: do people feel that you have been a traitor [to the novel], or does the world accept your adaptation? I felt that it wa
