Dune was a critical hit for Warner Bros., but in a year that saw the studio release all its major blockbusters simultaneously on HBO Max, the sci-fi epic didn't make the biggest impact at the box office. Despite that, the news that a sequel would follow was definitely welcomed, and cameras are expected to begin rolling on that soon.
While Dune picked up its fair share of Oscar nominations (and wins), it didn't land director Denis Villeneuve a "Best Director" nod. For whatever reason, the filmmaker was snubbed, despite his movie being up for "Best Picture" and "Best Adapted Screenplay." It was a nonsensical decision, and star Josh Brolin told Collider he struggled to wrap his head around it.
"It’s the most asinine, bizarre...I mean, that’s why snubs are such a thing and that’s why we all talk about them, but that’s a snub, of a snub, of a snub that I just thought was an impossibility," the actor said. "But given everything about the Academy Awards, there are many impossibilities that actually materialized. So it’s all part of the game right now. I don’t know. Is it post-pandemic mentality? I don’t understand it. He helmed the whole thing. It’s his creation. It’s his interpretation."
In the same interview, Brolin confirmed he will reprise the role of Gurney Halleck, the weapons expert of House Atreides, in the sequel. While his fate was left uncertain at the end of Dune, fans of the books will know there's still plenty of story left to be told. "I am a part of Dune Part Two, to the ridiculous extent of when somebody mentioned to me that it wasn't on IMDb, I actually went out of my way to call Liz [his publicist] and say, 'Can you please put that on IMDb?' It's a proud moment for me.'"
"Javier [Bardem] and I had a similar thing that we both admitted to each other at the Oscars, because we both have a little bit of paunch right now. And we talked to Denis. We hadn’t read anything, and we talked to Denis the week before. He was like, ‘You guys are fighting the whole time. And you’ve been in the desert with the Fremen and all that.’ And we [frick]ing panicked."
"We looked down and saw this little friend that we’ve been holding on our abdomen," he added. "So we were both on full diet mode at the Oscars, even though you absolutely couldn’t tell."
Panic mode or not, the prospect of seeing more of Brolin's Halleck in this world is undeniably exciting. A few big names have been added to the cast of this sequel, so you'll want to keep checking back here for updates as we're bound to have more to share on Dune: Part II in the coming weeks.
Dune: Part II is set to be released in theaters on October 20, 2023.