Director Denis Villeneuve's 2021 film adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune took home a fair amount of hardware at the 94th Academy Awards, winning six of the 10 Oscars it was nominated for.
At the 2022 Oscars, Dune won Best Sound, Best Original Score, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects. The film was also nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling (won by The Eyes of Tammy Faye), Best Costume Design (won by Cruella), Best Adapted Screenplay (won by CODA) and Best Picture (won by CODA).
Villeneuve recently opened up about not being nominated for Best Director, despite his film being nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture. "I prefer people say 'You should have been' instead of 'What the hell are you doing there?' I'm not making movies to get awards recognition, that's not the goal," he said. "If you do it for that goal you're not walking the right in my humble opinion. I make cinema because I deeply love the art form of cinema, I love making movies."
Titled on-screen as Dune: Part One, Villeneuve's Dune adapts roughly the first half of Herbert's seminal sci-fi epic of the same name. The second half of the book will be covered in Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two, which is currently slated for release on Oct. 20, 2023. Villeneuve has also discussed the possibility of a third film, which would be based upon Dune Messiah, the second novel in Herbert's Dune saga. "If I survive Dune: Part Two, then I might do the Messiah," the director recently told Collider.
Regarding Part Two, the sequel has reportedly begun casting some major characters from Herbert's Dune that weren't present in Villeneuve's first film. Florence Pugh (Black Widow, Hawkeye) is reportedly in talks to play the role of Princess Irulan Corrino, while Austin Butler (Elvis) is reportedly being eyed for the role of Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen. Regarding Pugh, Villeneuve did not confirm nor deny the reports, simply stating, "There's been rumors."
Additionally, an HBO Max spinoff/sequel series titled Dune: The Sisterhood has been in the works for some time. While Villeneuve is not overseeing the project personally, he assures development is moving along. "We'll see what happens," he told Deadline. "The TV series is a work in progress, it's moving forward."
Dune: Part Two releases in theaters on Oct. 20, 2023.
Source: The Oscars, via Variety