Dune 2 stars are already teasing a scene that you will never forget

At the February 26, 2024 starts Dune: Part Two in German cinemas. The first reactions praised the epic sci-fi sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s Dune as an absolute “masterpiece”. At the press conference for the hotly anticipated sequel, the director and his stars revealed exciting things about what awaits us this time.

Dune 2 promise: The sci-fi return will be more than just epic

At the virtual press conference for Dune 2, director Denis Villeneuve answered questions from the international press about his big sci-fi sequel. He had his many stars at his side: Timothée Chalamet (as Paul Atreides), Zendaya (as Chani), Rebecca Ferguson (as Paul’s mother Jessica Atreides), Stellan Skarsgård (as Baron Harkonnen) and Josh Brolin (as Swordmaster Gurney We already know Halleck from Part 1. New additions to the cast include Austin Butler (as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen), Florence Pugh (as Princess Irulan) and Léa Seydoux (as the mysterious Lady Margot Fenring).

Denis Villeneuve never quite left the planet of Arrakis in his head because he started planning Dune 2 straight after post-production on Part 1. The result is described by its star Timothée Chalamet as “epic action”with this time Zendaya’s Chani also becoming the main character, giving us additional Dune tragedy and “broken hearts” should provide. Her feelings for Paul are so complicated because, like so many of the local Fremen, she does not see the foreign duke’s son as a religiously prophesied savior. She has to face it “Concept of loving him” so open it reluctantly.

Fans can also look forward to a emotional reunion between Josh Brolin’s fighting teacher Gurney Halleck and his student Paul, who was believed to be dead. Because after Gurney believes that he has lost all of his confidants from House Atreides with the attack in Part 1, meeting him again is even nicer and he witnesses how Paul grows up. Or as Brolin puts it: “Not just to mature and become a man, but to become ‘the one’ and surpass everything that simple Gurney could have imagined.”

Rebecca Ferguson’s role as Lady Jessica also becomes more complex in Dune 2: She admits that she is often asked about Paul’s mother’s motivation: Is Lady Jessica good or evil? Your Answer:

What I love about Jessica is that she has conviction […] and you can also apply the dreaded term ‘fundamentalism’ to her in a spiritual and loving way, right?

Interestingly, Ferguson says that she doesn’t know whether Jessica believes in Paul as the chosen savior, but she does believe in the vision and movement that she wants to create with him.

The sandworm ride is a big highlight in Dune 2

One of the most impressive scenes for the young Denis Villeneuve was the sandworm ride in Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novel Dune *. Ever since the end of the first film and the latest trailer for Dune 2 hinted at the use of the gigantic desert creatures as mounts, fans have been eagerly awaiting Paul’s first ride.

And as usual, the director approached the implementation of this spectacle as realistically as possible:

It was by far the most complex sequence and took a lot of time as a team effort because I didn’t want to make any compromises. I was looking for a very special experience that reached down to the gut. After Feeling of danger, speed and a borderline experience. I wanted my mother to absolutely believe that Paul was riding the worm. So I created a technique because riding is not explained in the book. The sandworms are attracted to the rhythm of the knocker, but beyond that I had to imagine for myself how Paul would do it. Even if he is at Maybe a little awkward for the first time is. […] It should look really dangerous! And it took us months to develop and implement it.

Timothée Chalamet, who had to portray this sandworm ride in front of the camera as Paul Atreides in Dune 2, adds:

Denis made it as real as possible, I can’t praise him enough. That was the most complicated scenes I have ever taken part in as an actor. It took us about three months to shoot. And there was a whole film crew unit dedicated just to that sequence. I spoke to stunt coordinator Roger Yuan […] worked on the sandworm ride technique. And without giving too much away about ‘what’s going on in the kitchen’, as Denis always says: sand was blowing in my face and there was an industrial set of dishes. It was just as brutal an experience as it appears in the film.
Austin Butler and Florence Pugh: What do the new additions add to Dune 2?

Not least that unpredictable new arrivals ensure that Dune 2 is a special experience. Florence Pugh (Midsommar), for example, revealed that she had never played anyone like Princess Irulan. Normally she chooses very loud, stubborn, courageous female characters, but the Emperor’s Daughter is the opposite of that: “completely calm and unmoved and thoughtful”.

Austin Butler (Elvis) also plays a challenging new role in Dune 2: the fearsome Harkonnen nephew Feyd-Rautha, who is in a sense the other side of Paul’s chosen coin. The actor wanted to be with the villain “Shadow Self” explore, i.e. all the things he would never allow himself to do in real life. The power of the intense figure lies not only in his fighting skills, but also in the fact that he is an intelligent opponent “Always eight steps ahead” think.

The of Lea Seydoux (James Bond 007 – Spectre) is the new Dune 2 character in the sequel who is surrounded by the biggest secret: the Bene Gesserit Lady Margot Fenring approaches Feyd with a mission “like a secret agent” at. What was exciting for the French actress was that right from the start she didn’t know much about her enigmatic character, who was neither obviously good nor clearly evil.

But while Stellan Skarsgård was happy, his villain Baron Harkonnen “get rid of it as quickly as possible”, Seydoux, like most people, hopes to get to know more about her character in Dune 3. If the masses make the pilgrimage to the cinema for the sci-fi spectacle, this wish may soon become a reality.

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