FAQ

He's not in this movie. Since this film only covers the 1st half of the novel. For Dune: Part Two (2023), Austin Butler has been cast for the role of Feyd-Rautha.

Yes. This is based on the 1965 book "Dune" by Frank Herbert, which has been regarded as a source of inspiration for many other materials after it.

Erasmus was a psychotic robot during the Butlerian Jihad. Omnius was an omniscent computer that was brought low before Paul Atreides was even born. Both those mechanical beings existed well before we had the CHOAM, the Guild, or even the organization of Houses both low and high. It's nice to reach back to the origins, but Dune the novel is a revelation of organized power, as the Atreides House takes the entire universe under control.

UPDATE: Both Erasmus and Omnius are still technically around during the events of Dune as Omnius was able to escape at the Battle of Corrin. Also, since he is the primary villain of the entire Expanded Dune Universe, he should be mentioned at least.

There is a video available on YouTube comparing the special effects between this adaptation and the 1984 adaptation that David Lynch refuses to talk about. This reveals some of the techniques in scenes that were in both films.

Distant shots of crowds such as the Atreides or Harkonnen assembling around their ships used miniatures and matte paintings. The ornithopters are practical models except for their wings, which were sped up both in-camera and using CGI specifically to resemble the motion of Hummingbird wings.

The sandworms are probably the biggest example of scale models and CGI being used in tandem.

A general rule of thumb with this and other Denis Villeneuve films is practical where possible, CGI where no other options exist (or efficient enough).

No, it is a fictional universe set some 12000 years into the future. The events in the book/movie occur 10,000 years After Guild (AG), and after the Butlerian Jihad (outlawing all Artificial Intelligence) and they left Earth more than 2,000 years prior to that (~2200 BG).

"The Voice" is an audio-neuro control mechanism that enables the manipulation of speech to achieve complete control over a receiver. It is important to note that the Voice is not telepathy, but a method that utilizes sound. It is perfected by the Bene Gesserit through the combined training of several advanced techniques. It can be learned with the right training, so that effectively means other than Paul, who was trained by his mother, that only Bene Gesserit have the power, training only members of their organization.

Additionally, the Voice is also another of many streams of poetic reference thoughout Dune, to major historic theological concepts from Earth history, particularly those from the desert nations of the Middle East. The "Word of God," referring sometimes to Holy Scripture, the saving Messiah, and the original power used by God to create the universe by speaking.

Dune also references Islam and Arab culture with various direct adoptions of Arabic names and Islamic terminology - Jihad, Seitch, Sauduakar, precious commodities found under their deserts, in a region ever rife with political turmoil.

He was sent ahead to Arrakis to make contact with the fremen and evaluate their potential as allies.

He was able to gain their trust and earn their respect and made an honorary member of a sietch. He is the primary reason that Paul and Jessica were accepted initially into the tribe.

Joe Walker, who is the film's editor.

Sadly, no. Director Denis Villeneuve has openly stated in several interviews that he believes that the theatrical cut of a film is the final cut. In other words, even though the first part of Dune reportedly has over an hour of deleted footage, it probably never see the light of day unless Villeneuve changes his opinion on the matter.