Dune Director is Relieved They Didn't Shoot Parts One and Two Back to Back

Dune fans are celebrating the recent news that a second film has been officially given a green light. The follow-up, which will cover the second half of the novel, is set to be released in two years and fans couldn't be more thrilled to see the continuation of Paul Atreides' journey on the big screen.

Initially, there were plans to shoot Dune parts one and two back-to-back although the studio turned it down due to the risk and concern regarding the possible box office results of the first film. Recently, speaking with director Christopher Nolan in The Director's Cut podcast, director Denis Villeneuve said that he is actually relieved that they didn't end up shooting parts one and two back-to-back.

He said, "I would have died. I’m so happy we didn’t, because I would have not had the stamina to do that… I’m grateful that it happened this way because shooting in the desert and its elements was very inspiring and exhilarating… but I was exhausted at the end of this shoot."

Shooting multiple films back-to-back is not really a norm in Hollywood productions. The last time that it happened was in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. But in the case of those films, there is expected commercial viability so there was no problem or risk for them to shoot them back-to-back. Another great example of this kind of production goes way back to 20 years ago when Peter Jackson filmed the Lord of the Rings trilogy back-to-back, but it was seen as a huge risk during that time which ended up paying off big time as all films were huge box office hits and won tons of awards.

Logistically, it would have been better and more practical if Dune parts one and two were filmed back-to-back, especially given the fact that it would be the same team and cast who would be working on them. It is understandable why the studio didn't consider doing that since the general audience is not really familiar with the source material. Either way, Dune is officially going to get a sequel now, and let's just hope for its continuous success which would lead to a third film that they are also planning to do.

Also Read: Dune Star Timothée Chalamet Replaces Tom Holland as Spider-Man in Spectacular Image

Dune is currently showing in theaters and on HBO Max.