‘Dune: Part Two’ Costumes Were Inspired by 1950s Paris Runways and Balenciaga

After three weeks in theaters, “Dune: Part Two” currently reigns as the top-grossing film of 2024 with $512.1 million earned globally. That’s about $80 more total gross than its 2021 predecessor, which guarantees Warner Bros. will greenlight “Dune: Messiah,” right? Not so fast.

Dune and Dune: Part Two director Denis Villeneuve has commented on what it would take for him to make a third film in the sci-fi franchise.Speaking with Empire, Villeneuve spoke about the newly-released Dune: Part Two, in which he completes his adaptation of Frank Herbert’s first Dune book. Villeneuve has not shied away from addressing the potential of a third Dune film, though he previously stated that he’s planning to take a break first.Now, Villeneuve has reiterated to Empire that he doesn’t have Part Three – dubbed Dune Messiah after the book of the same name – on his mind right now: “I did both movies back-to-back, which makes absolute sense for me.

Coming out of the weekend, and with Sunday’s actuals and Monday’s numbers included, there are new global milestones to celebrate for the two major Hollywood titles currently in release.

“Kung Fu Panda 4 ” stayed at the top of the North American box office in its second weekend in theaters. The Universal and DreamWorks Animation movie earned $30 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.The franchise featuring the voice of Jack Black is responsible for over $1.9 billion at the box office since it launched in 2008 and spawned several animated series, shorts, video games and a holiday special.

With a solid offshore hold, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two is closing in on $500M globally. The overseas weekend brought in $51.2M across 73 markets, a 40% drop versus last session (-37% excluding China). The international box office cume through Sunday is $289.4M, and worldwide the running total is $494.7M. The latter figure means the film has already surpassed Villeneuve’s 2021 Dune worldwide.

Warner Bros/Legendary Entertainment’s Dune: Part Two held strongly in its sophomore session at the international box office, adding $81M to handily cross the $200M overseas milestone, and reaching $367.5M globally.

Austin Butler is sharing the inspiration behind his performance in Dune: Part Two!

Dune: Part Two has become one of the defining blockbusters of 2024, but not all the attention has been around the film itself.Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the sequel picks up as Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) unites with the Fremen people on Arrakis to wage war against House Harkonnen.Along with Chalamet, the film stars Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Javier Bardem and Austin Butler.Dune: Part Two managed to earn $200million at the worldwide box office within its first week, making it the highest-grossing film of the year so far.Sandworm

Austin Butler has revealed to NME that he drew inspiration from Gary Oldman and Heath Ledger for his performance in Dune: Part Two.Butler plays the role of Feyd-Rautha, the villainous nephew of and heir to Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), in Denis Villeneuve’s new film.When asked if there were any classic movie bad guys that he took a lead from while preparing to play the role, Butler said that it was the broad career work of the two stars that motivates him.“I’ve always been inspired by Gary Oldman in many of his roles,” he said. “Léon: The Professional, or True Romance, or The Fifth Element.”“And you know, we’ve talked about Heath Ledger a lot, the sense of play that he had.

Dune: Part Two and No Time To Die star, who was born and raised in Paris, made the comments in a recent interview with Harper’s Bazaar UK about the differences working on each side of the Atlantic.“The industry in America, I find it harsh on women,” she said. “It’s hard for women to age. I don’t want to be afraid not to be desirable or to lose my contract.

The movie Dune: Part Two is already a huge success in theaters and we’re learning some new details about cast members who were cut out of the movie.

If we’re going to praise the visual rapture of Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” movies—and we should—and in particular, the newly released “Dune: Part Two,” there’s no conversation that can happen without mention of Academy Award-winning cinematographer Greig Fraser, who won his first Oscar for “Dune” in 2022. READ MORE: Denis Villeneuve Calls ‘Dune: Part Two’ A “Dark Tragedy,” Talks Potential ‘Messiah’ Sequel & More [Interview] While “Dune: Part Two” is genuinely unanimously praised by critics (read our review here)—and this weekend, it grossed $178.5 million worldwide, and with $81 domestic, that’s the biggest opening since “Barbie”— it does have a small group of detractors.

Last week saw the global launch of Denis Villeneuve’s second “Dune” film, wrapping up the conclusion of the first novel adaptation while also leaving everything on a cliffhanger for a third movie that the filmmaker is co-writing with franchise screenwriter Jon Spaihts. Strong critical responses and audience word of mouth have paid off big time for the film as it has made some history over the weekend, becoming the biggest opening for the director and overperforming compared to the first part that was released back in September 2021.

Dune: Part Two director Denis Villeneuve has defended the film’s lengthy running time amid debates about whether or not films are getting too long.The sci-fi epic has clocked up a running time of 2 hours and 46 minutes, just slightly longer than the first instalment of the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel, which was 2 hours and 35 minutes long.It’s been noted that films have gradually been getting longer in the last decade, sparking a debate about how necessary that is. It picked up pace in particular last year with the release of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon, which were three hours and three and a half hours long respectively.Now, Villeneuve has had his say on the matter.

*Some spoilers ahead for “Dune: Part Two” in the following article, beware.” When adapting a rich sci-fi fantasy literary franchise as dense and epic as the scale of Frank Herbert’s “Dune,” some things just won’t be able to make the feature film adaptation. As you may have noticed if you saw this film this weekend, there are a few elements seen in the David Lynch incarnation that didn’t make it into director Denis Villeneuve’s two-part incarnation, such as the Spicing Guild and Navigator (A mutated clairvoyant that warns The Emperor of House Atreties and Paul Atreteies becoming a threat to them).

FRIDAY UPDATE: Dune: Part Two added 42 international box office markets on Thursday, taking the offshore cume on the Denis Villeneuve-directed sequel to $20.8M in a total 55. This includes two full-days of play and previews in those markets.

UPDATED FRIDAY AM, POST EXCLUSIVE: Legendary/Warner Bros Dune Part Two has now grown to $12M+ per Warners. That’s from 4,500 locations, and Imax alone delivered $4.5M of that number or 38%. Of that preview figure, $2M came from an Imax fan screening on Feb. 25. Audience reactions have hit Rotten Tomatoes and they’re at 95%, which is great. Denis Villeneuve’s first Dune saw 83% certified fresh from RT critics and 90% from RT audiences.

Jordan Moreau It’s finally time to return to Arrakis. Denis Villeneuve‘s “Dune: Part Two” has arrived, making a mighty $12 million in previews at the box office from more than 3,400 theaters. Big-screen Imax showings made up $4.5 million of that huge haul.

Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two” opens this Friday, March 1, and returning for the film as the Bene Gesserit Lady Jessica and Paul Atreides’ mother is actress Rebecca Ferguson, known for the “Mission Impossible” franchise (read our review). As I noted earlier this week, Ferguson can be a mercurial interview; she’s spirited, unconventional, can turn on a dime, and doesn’t suffer fools gladly.

Following ecstatic reviews (including ours) and a super impressive Rotten review score of 97, Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two” seems poised to not only conquer the sagging 2024 box office but enliven it, perhaps giving it the shot in the arm it needs. READ MORE: ‘Dune: Part Two’ Review: A Darker, Devastating Blockbuster & Cautionary Tale About Prophecy, Fate & False Idols It’s a colossal film and an immense achievement, but a much darker film, and clearly much darker than I expected (full disclosure: I started reading, but put down Frank Herbert‘s “Dune” before the first film came out; more below).