Dune: Part Two has been announced for 2023

Part two of Denis Villeneuve's adaption of sci-fi classic Dune has been confirmed and is slated to arrive in October 2023.

Dune: Part Two will screen exclusively in cinemas following the controversy surrounding the dual release of the film on HBO and in theaters. Warner Bros defended the decision and said it was necessary due to the pandemic. The film's producers, Legendary, said they would sue if the film didn't receive a standalone theatrical release.

The production company funded 75% of the film and said they were "blindsided" by the distributor's decision to "hybrid" release the film. The decision was criticised heavily by Christopher Nolan, Judd Apatow, Patty Jenkins and Villeneuve himself.

Production company Legendary Entertainment announced the news on Twitter:

"This is only the beginning... Thank you to those who have experienced @dunemovie so far, and those who are going in the days and weeks ahead. We're excited to continue the journey!" they wrote.

This is only the beginning...

Thank you to those who have experienced @dunemovie so far, and those who are going in the days and weeks ahead. We're excited to continue the journey! pic.twitter.com/mZj68Hnm0A

— Legendary (@Legendary) October 26, 2021

The first film arrived last Thursday (October 21) to critical acclaim and has achieved box office success. Dune — which reportedly had a budget of $165 million — has taken in $225 million globally since its release.

Dune director Denis Villeneuve had always maintained that his adaptation of Frank Herbert’s beloved 1965 novel would be split in two parts. The Sicario and Blade Runner 2049 filmmaker told RTÉ he had always planned to recreate the story in two parts. He originally intended to do “a Peter Jackson” and record both simultaneously.

“When we started this project, I took a gamble. My dream was to make both parts at the same time, back-to-back but it was too expensive,” said the director.

"So, I agreed that I would do it this way and frankly I’m grateful because it was such a long process and so much work. I would have died if I tried to do both movies at the same time.”

“I don’t know how Peter Jackson did it, he honestly has all my respect. I am very proud of the film and very happy with the result so we will see what happens but I am kind of optimistic," he said. "It would be really awkward to not do the second part!”

Warner Bros executives told Variety that plans for part two of the film would be dependent on what "the entirety of what Dune can do for the company, including HBO Max."

A cast for the follow-up film is yet to be announced however Timothée Chalamet — who stars as Paul Atreides in the film — has said he is eager to return for part two. Dune was a star-studded affair; featuring Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgård, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin alongside Chalamet.

Skarsgård — who plays the role of evil mastermind Baron Vladimir Harkonnen — told Hot Press that Dune is "a sci-fi world that I hadn’t seen before. It’s mystical and a little magical, and it’s quite sensual at the same time. Of course in Denis Villeneuve’s version, it’s ten times as sensual.”

The accomplished actor said that he trusted his director entirely to bring the novel to life.

“It was impossible to visualise what it would look like,” he says. “But I knew it was Denis. I knew that he would throw out half the lines that are left to create beautiful long pauses, which suck you into the screen. So I knew that, with him, I don’t care. If this film had been done with a normal blockbuster Hollywood studio, I’d have been worried.”