jfoobar

He obviously meets up with the Fremen and he fights Jamis but it must end somewhat shortly after that, surely before his jihad gets under way. The novel really rushes through time pretty quickly shortly after Jessica becomes a reverend mother and his relationship with Chani starts up so that seems like a good place to stop. On the other hand, that doesn't leave a lot of book plot for a whole second film. On the other hand, there is a lot of room there to flesh things out, both in terms of the jihad as well as the political intrigue off planet.

Dr. DVD

I've seen some spots in the previews that appear to have him riding a sandworm as well as fighting alongside the Fremen with his blue eyes in tact , but that could very well be a vision. IMO,

Bandoman

Well that sucks, but it's understandable. As long as they make the second one!

TomOpus

Trying to decide if I want to see it Thursday night (more crowded) or Friday early afternoon.

Bandoman

My concern is that ending

will be so unsatisfying to viewers who haven't read the book that there will be little interest in a second film and Part II won't get made.

Jay G.

Is it anymore an unsatisfying ending than LOTR:FOTR is though? It's a turning point, and it hints at where the story will go next.

It's possible that, as Dr. DVD describes, they jump forward a bit at the end of film 1 to show where film 2 will go, and then film 2 jumps back a bit to show getting up to that point.

Runaway

It's pretty much like Lord of the Rings. You know the story isn't finished, but the "episode" is completed. I really want a second part, but I didn't feel unsatisfied.

Josh-da-man

Yes, but we were guaranteed two more LOTR films to complete the story.

As far as most people know, this movie is a standalone film.

Splitting a novel with no guarantee of a sequel to complete the story is kind of an odd way to make a film, but it worked for It. (Though the film had a natural stopping point, and if the sequel didn't happen, audiences wouldn't feel like they missed out on much.)

Runaway

I have talked to a lot of people and most of them asume a second movie is already in the making since the movie is called Dune: Part One. Most people don't follow movie news. The international box office returns are quite good. If you look at pre-covid rates it's on par with 2019 movies like Maleficent 2, It: Chapter 2 or Detective Pikachu, so ~450.000.000 worldwide seems realistic if the movie does fine in the US, China and the UK.

Josh-da-man

I don't think the film has been marketed as "Part One." Everything I've seen just calls it Dune.

milo bloom

Remember, FOTR had to steal a few pages from The Two Towers, to show Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli putting Boromir into the boat and gearing themselves up to give chase to the orcs. The book ends Sam and Frodo reaching the other side of the river and that's it.
I suspect Villeneuve will do something similar to give this a decent ending. The cliffhanger ending would be Paul and Jessica crashing into the desert and the sandworm rearing up over them like in the trailer, but that might be a little to harsh.

Jay G.

I have to question whether most people knew LOTR was "guaranteed" two more movies or not. Like, us movie buffs did. However, I recall seeing LOTR:FOTR in theaters, as I was getting up to leave at the end, I overheard a couple behind me talking about how abrupt the ending was and the story seeming unfinished, and I told them there were two more movies coming, which they didn't know. Also my wife went to see LOTR:TTT with some friends and co-workers, and found out after the screening that one of them hadn't seen LOTR:FOTR beforehand.

Also, I think audiences are a bit more savvy and tolerant of stories being multi-part serialized, and not standalone. Whether it's movies, TV show episodes, or even TV show seasons, it's not really expected that you're getting everything from the first movie, and almost every movie nowadays is either part of a franchise, or hoping to launch one. Like, we weren't guaranteed sequels on Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Twilight, Iron Man, Chronicles of Narnia, The Maze Runner, Divergent, The Golden Compass, etc. Now, granted, some of those series have first films that could work more-or-less standalone, or at least feel too incomplete if no further films were made, but I don't think people sitting down and watching Dune will be upset just because the story is incomplete and suggests further films, even if those films aren't yet greenlit.

Edit: Also, it should be noted that Dune was originally two serials published in Analog magazine: "Dune World" consisting of Book 1 in the novel, and "The Prophet of Dune", making up Books 2 & 3 in the novel. The novel does expand on the serials, but even Frank Herbert felt there was a natural end point after Book 1.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(novel)#Origins

milo bloom

Yeah, I forgot to mention earlier, my wife didn't realize there were more but was impressed with part 1 and my brother called me shortly after watching FOTR to ask if there would be more movies.
As big as this story was, as many fans as it had, the idea of it being a trilogy wasn't really in the general cultural awareness.

TheBigDave

The movie's title screen says Dune Part 1. I was surprised when I saw that. I didn't know anything about it going in, and thought it was a standalone movie.

Dr. DVD

You must not have been frequenting these parts for news of the movie in that case. Not criticizing you, but I really don't see how anyone who hadn't read the books or hasn't read a review here and there would just go see this movie cold turkey, same with LOTR. I remember opening night of FOTR and while most of the audience were fans and loved what they saw, I noticed a ball cap wearing man (this was Kentucky) get up and look like he was storming out followed by his rather obese wife who looked equally pissed . This happened at about the part Gandalf was sending Frodo on the quest with Sam. If it wasn't their thing, no problem. However, I do not see how or why anyone who wasn't already in to stuff like that (fantasy, wizards, etc) would bother watching in the first place with no real research about what they going to watch.

TheBigDave

I think a lot of unaware viewers (like me) will check it out just because they're drawn to big budget Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters.

I don't want to post my thoughts on the movie here. I'll wait for the spoiler review thread.

Runaway

OK, that's a fair point regarding the marketing, but the title card says Part One, so those people I talked to, watched the movie, not knowing it's just part of the story and asumed there will be a second part. Like I said the movie is quiet successful, regardless of the risk for the audience. Most people just don't know it. I mean there are a lot of people who watched Avengers: Endgame without knowing most of the other movies.

Jay G.

What would be interesting is knowing how many people went into Avengers: Infinity War without knowing that was only "part 1" of a two-part story. It seemed a very common thing at the time, even though those of us who kept track of the pre-production knew the films were originally called "Infinity War Part 1 & 2" and were filmed together.

The one thing, that may actually hurt Dune Part 2 more than part 1, is the turnaround time to film and release part 2. In August, Villeneuve estimated that filming could start in Fall 2022, meaning that the movie likely wouldn't come out until 2023 at the earliest.
Dune: Part Two Could Begin Filming By Fall 2022, Reveals Denis Villeneuve ? Appocalypse

There aren't many multi-part films that have multi-year gaps between the first and second movie. Even when they weren't filmed simultaneously, Harry Potter got the 2nd film out within 12 months. Hunger Games 2 was 20 months after the first, but still within the next calendar year. Twilight 2 was 12 months after the first.

The Star Wars sequel trilogy had 2 years between films. The original trilogy and prequel trilogy had 3 years between films, but that's the Star Wars franchise. Chronicles of Narnia had 2-3 years between films, and that film series sputtered out. It's an open question whether audiences will still care enough about Dune 2-3 years from now to see the 2nd part. Of course, even if the 2nd film flops, at least we got a complete adaptation of the first novel, but it could put the kibosh on adapting further novels in the series.

Giantrobo

It's cool to see so much actual excitement about this film.. in between the "What? Another remake?!" posts on Social Media.

eXcentris

I'm seeing it on IMAX next Tuesday the 26th. Much like with "Arrival" and "Blade Runner 2049" I'm expecting "Dune" will be easier to admire than to love.

story

I get that a lot.

eXcentris

Well, we each have our own story!

TheBigDave

PSA: You can stream Dune a day early on HBO Max

Dune is finally about to stream on HBO Max. In fact, it’s arriving a day early: October 21st at 6PM ET / 3PM PT, a rep confirms to The Verge.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/20/...nis-villenueve

Jay G.

I opened HBO Max app today, and it confirms the October 21st at 6PM ET premiere time, and includes the trailer.

Josh-da-man

I think that sums up Denis Villeneuve perfectly. He's an amazing stylist, but his films seem cold and inhuman.

Which kind or worked to BR2049's advantage, considering the themes of the franchise...