Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is considered one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, and can be streamed with a Max subscription. The sequel was also wildly successful when it arrived in theaters in March. Dune: Part Two destroyed at the box office, while also going viral for moments like the viral popcorn bucket. The movie has been fodder for a ton of content on social media, and Villeneuve recently reacted to Javier Bardem being turned into memes.
In the Dune franchise, Bardem plays Stilgar who is the leader of a Fremen tribe. Stilgar is also fierce in his religious beliefs, and thinks that Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides is the messiah Lisan al Gaib. Bardem’s reaction shots from the film have been memed countless times, thanks to how big his facial expressions are. It turns out that Denis Villeneuve has seen the content coming to socials, telling The New York Times:
I am very happy when you say that he is a tragic figure. For me, he is the most tragic figure of all . The idea to bring humor to Stilgar was to make him lovable, to feel the humanity in that character. He’s not an austere figure, he has a big heart. But his beliefs, his faith, his reactions bring humor — and that is something I love about making a sci-fi film, because I can talk about that without offending people because it’s a fake religion. I designed all the prayers myself, so I know it’s fake. I find Stilgar very funny. And when people laugh, I’m happy because that was the intention.
There you have it. Sounds like Villeneuve doesn’t mind the memes that Dune 2 inspired, as he’s happy how Javier Bardem’s character was portrayed in the blockbuster. Plus, memes have a way to further immortalize popular TV shows and movies.
Bardem and the rest of the Dune: Part Two cast all crushed it in their roles, and continued the thrilling take of Paul Atreides. And since both movies were so popular, fans are wondering if Dune 3 aka Dune Messiah might be coming down the line soon. I that project ends up being green lit, Javier Bardem’s Stilgar will presumably return.
While Denis Villeneuve has gone on the record saying Dune 3 needs to happen eventually, the exact timeline of when this might occur is a mystery to the general public. That being said, it seems like an inevitability given how much money the last two movies made for Warner Bros.. And the ending of Dune: Part Two definitely seemed to set up a future project, as Paul claims himself the Lisan al Gaib and betrayed Chani to marry Princess Irulan. Fans also want to see Anya Taylor-Joy’s surprise character get more fleshed out.
Dune 2 is available to rent digitally, and the original movie is on Max. While we wait fo information about a threequel, check out the 2024 movie release dates.
