| Dune | |
|---|---|
 Release poster | |
| Directed by | Denis Villeneuve |
| Screenplay by |
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| Based on | Dune by Frank Herbert |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Greig Fraser |
| Edited by | Joe Walker |
| Music by | Hans Zimmer |
Production company | Legendary Pictures |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 155 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $165 million[2] |
| Box office | $434.8 million[3] |
Dune (titled onscreen as Dune: Part One) is a 2021 American epic science fiction film directed and co-produced by Denis Villeneuve, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth. It is the first of a two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel of the same name by Frank Herbert. Set in the distant future, the film follows Paul Atreides as his family, the noble House Atreides, is thrust into a war for the deadly and inhospitable desert planet Arrakis. The ensemble cast includes Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem.
The film is the third adaptation of Dune, following David Lynch's 1984 film and John Harrison's 2000 television miniseries. After an unsuccessful attempt by Paramount Pictures to produce a new adaptation, Legendary Entertainment acquired the Dune film and television rights in 2016, with Villeneuve signing on as director in February 2017. Production contracts were secured only for the first film, relying on its success before a sequel would be produced. Principal photography took place from March to July 2019 at locations including Budapest, Jordan, Norway, and Abu Dhabi.
Dune was scheduled for a late 2020 release but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2021, before its international release on September 15; it was then released in United States theaters and streaming on HBO Max on October 22. Dune was a box office success, grossing almost $435 million on a $165 million budget. It was well received by critics and audiences with praise for Villeneuve's direction, screenplay, the visual effects, ambition, costume design, Hans Zimmer's musical score, cinematography, and faithfulness to the source material. The film won six awards at the 94th Academy Awards and was nominated in four other categories, including Best Picture, in addition to receiving numerous other accolades. A sequel, Dune: Part Two, was released in March 2024. In February 2024, Villeneuve said the script for the production of third part was "almost finished".
Plot[edit]
In the distant future, Duke Leto Atreides, ruler of the planet Caladan, is assigned by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV to replace Baron Vladimir Harkonnen as the fiefholder of Arrakis, a harsh desert planet and sole source of "spice", a valuable psychotropic substance that imparts heightened vitality and awareness. Spice is key to interstellar travel, giving Spacing Guild Navigators the ability to guide starships to traverse space instantaneously and safely. Shaddam plots for House Harkonnen to retake Arrakis, secretly aided by his Sardaukar troops, to destroy House Atreides. Leto is suspicious of the Emperor but weighs the risks against the power of controlling Arrakis and making an alliance with its mysterious natives, the Fremen.
Leto's concubine, Lady Jessica, is an acolyte of the Bene Gesserit, an exclusive sisterhood whose members possess advanced physical and mental abilities. As part of their centuries-long breeding program, they instructed her to bear a daughter whose son would become the Kwisatz Haderach, a Bene Gesserit and messianic superbeing with the clairvoyance necessary to guide humanity to a better future. She disobeyed and bore a son, Paul, who is trained by Leto's aides, Duncan Idaho, Gurney Halleck, the Suk doctor Wellington Yueh, and the Mentat Thufir Hawat; Jessica teaches him Bene Gesserit disciplines. Paul confides in Jessica and Duncan of his troubling visions of the future. The Reverend Mother and Imperial Truthsayer Gaius Helen Mohiam visits Caladan and subjects him to a death-alternative gom jabbar test to assess his humanity and impulse control, which he passes. At a secret meeting on Giedi Prime, Mohiam insists Baron Harkonnen spare Paul and Jessica in his coup, to which he duplicitously agrees.
House Atreides arrives at Arrakeen, the fortress stronghold on Arrakis. Duncan's advance party has made contact with the Fremen. The natives revere Paul and Jessica, which Jessica explains is due to the Bene Gesserit sowing beliefs on Arrakis centuries earlier. Leto negotiates with Fremen chieftain Stilgar and meets the Imperial Judge of the Change, Dr. Kynes, a planetologist who lives among the Fremen. Kynes briefs them on the dangers of spice harvesting, and the giant sandworms which travel under the desert and make the use of protective Holtzman shields unwise. During a flight, they dramatically rescue a stranded spice-harvesting crew from a sandworm, and Paul's exposure to the spice triggers intense premonitions.
An attempt to assassinate Paul with a hunter-seeker fails. Yueh betrays the Atreides and disables Arrakeen's shields, allowing the Harkonnens and Sardaukar to invade. He incapacitates Leto, planning to exchange him for his wife, who is the Baron's prisoner. Yueh replaces one of Leto's teeth with a poison gas capsule with which the Duke can assassinate the Baron. After the Baron double-crosses and murders Yueh, Leto releases the gas, killing himself and the Baron's Mentat, Piter De Vries, but the Baron survives. Though the Baron has arranged to have Paul and Jessica dropped deep in the desert to die, a compassionate Yueh has left them with a fremkit with survival supplies. Jessica uses a Bene Gesserit technique called "the Voice" to overpower and kill their captors. Overnighting in the desert, Paul—surrounded by spice—has visions of a bloody holy war fought across the universe in his name.
Baron Harkonnen gives command of the conquered Arrakis to his nephew, Rabban, and orders him to restart spice production to recoup the cost of the invasion. Paul and Jessica are found by Duncan and Kynes, and Paul discloses his plan to marry one of Shaddam's daughters to avert the civil war that would ensue from news of the Emperor's treachery. They are found by the Sardaukar who have a lasgun, but Duncan sacrifices himself to enable Paul and Jessica to escape; Kynes is mortally wounded and lures a sandworm to devour her and the Sardaukar. In the deep desert, Paul and Jessica encounter Stilgar's tribe, including Chani, the young woman in Paul's visions. Fremen warrior Jamis opposes Stilgar's lenience to them and challenges Paul to a ritual duel to the death, which Paul wins. Against Jessica's wishes, Paul joins the Fremen to fulfill his father's goal of allying with them to bring peace to Arrakis.
