Dune: Part Two draws ever closer to releasing in theaters and blowing all of our minds, and according to a new report from Digital Spy, there's going to be quite a lot of it to take in. Last month we heard rumblings that Dune: Part Two was going to have a supersized runtime of nearly 3 hours. Now, it has been confirmed.
This comes from IFCO, the Irish Film Classification Office, which lists Dune: Part Two as having a runtime of 2 hours and 45 minutes. That's around 10 minutes longer than Dune: Part One, which ran for 2 hours and 35 minutes.
Personally, I love long movies so I'm all in favor of this. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the two Dune films each adapt half of Frank Herbert's seminal 1965 novel. The first showed how Paul Atriedes (Timothée Chalamet) survived the coup by the villainous Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) that removed his family from power. The second will depict Paul's rise to become a leader and messiah to the native Fremen people of Arrakis. It's heady, complex material, and it's great that Villeneuve is taking his time to explore it all.
That's especially encouraging considering how many new elements and characters will come into play in the sequel. In addition to returning cast members like Chalamet, Skarsgård, Zendaya (Chani), Rebecca Ferguson (Lady Jessica) and Josh Brolin (Gurney Halleck), Dune: Part Two will introduce us to characters like Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh) and Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV (Christopher Walken). And of course, we'll meet more of the Harkonnen family, such as the sadistic Feyd-Rautha, played by a very pale, very bald Austin Butler.
Dune: Part Two was originally slated to come out late last year, but after multiple delays it has finally settled on an early March release date. Once, that felt distant and dispiriting. Now it's practically around the corner. Best start mentally preparing yourself, because there's little doubt Dune: Part Two is going to end up being one of the most notable and epic sci-fi films of the year.
Dune: Part Two is out in theaters on March 1. And if you can't get enough of Arrakis, you can even go see David Lynch's cult classic 1984 adaptation of Dune in select theaters ahead of the new movie as well:
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