EntertainmentMoviesSci-Fi MoviesDune 2Dune 2: How does the movie sequel differ from the book?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
EntertainmentMoviesSci-Fi MoviesDune 2Dune 2: How does the movie sequel differ from the book?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)
Dune: Part Twosees director Denis Villeneuve adapt the second half of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novel, published in 1965. While the firstDunemovie followed its source material fairly closely, the sequel makes a few more changes, particularly around certain characters.
This is the par for the course with book-to-screen adaptations, especially with a hefty epic like Dune. The novel clocks in at nearly five hundred pages and, even when split into two movies, it’s no mean feat to condense the politics and battles of Arrakis into a feature-length film.
If the length of Herbert’s sci-fi tome has put you off reading it, don’t worry – we’ve broken down the key differences between the movie and the book so you can compare and contrast without cracking out your reading glasses. Be warned, though: there aremajor Dune: Part Two spoilersahead, so turn back now if you haven’t seen the movie and don’t want to know what happens!
How does Dune: Part Two differ from the book?
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)
Leto II
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)
In Dune: Part Two, the pair move at a much slower pace and Chani plays a greater role in the story. “What Denis [Villeneuve] does very well is take the female characters more deeply into consideration,” Zendaya, who plays Chani, previously toldTotal Film. “He was really able to build out a strong sense of [Chani’s] own views and life. It wasn’t entirely like she’s at the will of who she’s in love with.”
Alia
(Image credit: Getty Images/Samir Hussein / Contributor)
Thufir Hawat
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)
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Gurney’s suspicions
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)
Water of Life
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)
Paul’s two-year stint with the Fremen isn’t the only example of time moving more quickly in the movie than in Herbert’s novel. After Paul travels to the south of Arrakis and drinks the Water of Life, a powerful bright blue liquid found in the bodies of sandworms that enables ultimate clairvoyance in the Bene Gesserit (and Paul), he lies unconscious for a time – in the movie, that appears to be an hour or so, but in the book he’s comatose for three weeks.
The final battle
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)
The movie and the book both culminate with the arrival of the Emperor’s Sardaukar troops on Arrakis. In the film, the Fremen attack on sandworms before Paul storms a meeting between the Emperor and the Baron, where Paul kills the Baron. However, in the book, the Emperor’s troops attack a Fremen outpost first and many are killed – including Leto, Paul and Chani’s son. Meanwhile, Paul’s sister Alia is taken prisoner and taken to the Baron and, in the book, Alia is the one to kill him, allowing her to escape.
Dune: Part Two is in theaters worldwide now. For more, check out the rest of our coverage on the movie:
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