Dune: Part Two – everything you need to know including tickets on sale, cast, story and release date

Cineworld tickets are now on sale for one of this year's biggest spectacles, Dune: Part Two. You are invited to return to Arrakis via the majesty of the big screen as you bear witness to the conclusion of the sweeping two-part Dune saga, adapted from Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi novel.

You can book your tickets via the link at the end of this post, but before you do, get refreshed with all the essential information on Dune: Part Two, from story to character and screening formats.

What happened in Dune?

Dune (2021) revolves around the desert planet Arrakis, which is the only known source of the Spice Melange. The spice extends cognitive awareness and allows the navigators of the Spacing Guild the ability to guide their ships through the treacherous void of the solar system.

Spice is therefore highly coveted and fought over, and caught in the middle are the indigenous Arrakis Fremen who are currently waging a bitter war against the planet's stewards, the ruthless and conniving Harkonnens.

Into this fight comes House Atreides. Led by Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac), House Atreides is installed as the new steward of Arrakis, but it is a trap set up by the scheming Emperor Shaddam IV who fears the growing influence of the Atreides family.

Duke Leto, his son and heir Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and Paul's mother, Duke Leto's concubine and Bene Gesserit seer Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), are betrayed by the Harkonnens who are working in league with the Emperor.

Paul and Lady Jessica are outcasts in the desert where they take refuge amid the Fremen. The former starts to grapple with his destiny as the Fremen chosen one or 'mahdi' and also his prophesised destiny as the 'kwisatz haderach', the super-being whose arrival is set to unite the entire universe.

What is the story of Dune: Part Two?

Dune: Part Two picks up immediately after the events of Dune. On Arrakis, Paul and Lady Jessica have now been absorbed into the Fremen collective and they plan insurgent attacks on the Harkonnen spice reserves. At the same time Paul starts to fall for the Fremen warrior Chani (Zendaya) whom he has been seeing in his dreams.

Meanwhile, the gluttonous, conniving Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) pits his two nephews, Glossu 'Beast' Rabban (Dave Bautista) and Feyd-Rautha, against each other in a bid to secure the legitimacy of the Harkonnen lineage.

While living with Fremen leader Stilgar (Javier Bardem), Lady Jessica, in her role as a member of the Bene Gesserit, makes a life-changing decision that alters her destiny and that of her unborn child.

Out in space, the daughter of Emperor Shaddam IV, Princess Irulan, is chronicling Paul's rise to power and suspects he may not have been killed in the Harkonnen insurgency.

On the surface of the planet Arrakis and beyond, multiple destinies are set to collide with explosive and wide-ranging results for all those in the known universe.

Who are the new characters in Dune: Part Two?

Dune: Part Two introduces several new characters. Princess Irulan is played by Florence Pugh (Oppenheimer) whose destiny becomes intertwined with that of Paul, which portends ominous things for the next instalment in the series, Dune: Messiah. As per Frank Herbert's original book, Irulan is established as the chronicler of Paul's ascendancy to the role of 'kwisatz haderach'.

Emperor Shaddam IV is portrayed by Christopher Walken (Oscar-winner for The Deer Hunter). Absent from the first film, Shaddam IV is revealed as the ultimate schemer who will undertake anything necessary to hold onto his position as the most powerful individual in the universe.

Baron Harkonnen's vicious nephew Feyd-Rautha is played by Elvis star Austin Butler. Bald of pate and pale of visage, Feyd is a fierce gladiatorial warrior who eventually becomes Paul's greatest nemesis.

However, Feyd is just as much of a pawn, particularly in the power struggle between his own family and the machinations of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood. He's soon approached by the mysterious Bene Gesserit representative Lady Margot (No Time To Die's Lea Seydoux) who has her designs on the brutal Harkonnen warrior.

Who directs Dune: Part Two?

Dune: Part Two is directed by Denis Villeneuve who completes his two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert's landmark 1965 novel. In the process, Villeneuve cements his reputation as a contemporary master of science-fiction with his back catalogue also including the acclaimed likes of Arrival (2016) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017).

Villeneuve says he's loved Herbert's Dune novel since he was a teenager and he has described the Dune saga as a passion project. He also says that Dune: Part Two differs from the first movie.

“The first movie was more contemplative – a young man discovering a world. Here, it’s a war movie,” Villeneuve told Empire Magazine in 2023. "And in finally uniting its two young lovers there’s real character development to come too.

“At the very core is a love story between Paul and Chani. How Paul will gain her trust, how she will open her heart to him, and how they will find a way to free Chani’s world from the Harkonnen grip. It’s a much more emotional movie."

Will Denis Villeneuve direct Dune: Messiah?

Denis Villeneuve has expressed enthusiasm for directing Dune: Messiah, the second in Frank Herbert's Dune series. The novel presents its challenges, becoming far more hallucinatory and surreal in its tone as it expands the mythology of Paul Atreides. Nevertheless, Villeneuve says he's up to the challenge.

In an interview with Variety in December 2023, Villeneuve revealed that Dune: Messiah is “being written right now,” adding: “The screenplay is almost finished but it is not finished. It will take a little time... There’s a dream of making a third movie... it would make absolute sense to me."

“I don’t know exactly when I will go back to Arrakis,” Villeneuve said. “I might make a detour before just to go away from the sun. For my mental sanity, I might do something in between.”