Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two,”starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, has grossed $178 million in its opening weekend, beating the industry’s projections. Thanks to those numbers, the sci-fi epic is poised to become one of the biggest movies of the year and fans want to know every single detail regarding the production, including filming locations.
One of the best aspects of the film, which received universal acclaim from both critics and audiences, are the impressive locations. While the film is set in a distant future, production took place in real locations, especially in the desert of Abu Dhabi and Jordan (Wadi Rum desert).
Villeneuve explained to UPI that “Scenes in the desert were sometimes shot in different locations. Sometimes it’s 12 or 14 different locations.” And, there were several challenges that came with shooting in the desert.
All Dune: Part Two filming locations: Abu Dhabi and more
In the same interview, Villeneuve explained that in order to be able to get the shot they wanted, cinematographer Greig Fraser used computer simulations to predict position of the sun at specific times to get the desired shot.
Apart from shooting in Abu Dhabi and Jordan, filming for “Dune: Part Two” also took place in Budapest and Italy. According to Villneuve, production designer Patrice Vermette and his team constructed other sets, such as the Fremen’s rebellion base hidden in the rocks of Arrakis.
“You felt that you were inside the skeleton of some kind of huge animal,” Villeneuve said. According to Screen Rant, in the first movie, the United Arab Emirates doubled as the rock shelters used by the Fremens.
Per Collider, another location for Dune: Part Two was the city Altivole in the province of Treviso, Italy. According to IMDb, this location served the interiors of the Corrino household. To Villeneuve, it was important actors could be in real locations.
“They can take everything around them for granted. It’s there, it’s real and they can just focus on their relationships,” he told UPI. While the result is impressive, “Dune: Part Two” had a relatively modest (at least compared to other films of this scale) budget of $190 million.
Apart from Chalamet and Zendaya, the film also stars Rebecca Ferguson, Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, and more.
