Dave Bautista Says “Dune: Part Two” is More Cutthroat & Amped Up

Co-writer and director Denis Villeneuve’s Dune was a triumph, yet according to one of its stars, Part Two will be even more of a cinematic event.

Dave Bautista, who plays Glossu Rabban Harkonnen, one of the most dangerous members of the supremely malevolent House Harkonnen, told Collider that viewers can expect an even more intense, “amped up” Part Two. And that’s saying something considering how thoroughly riveting the first film was.

When Dune premiered in October of 2021, Villeneuve unleashed a magisterial, beautifully paced epic that benefited mightily from his decision, with the help of his fellow Oscar-nominated screenwriter Jon Spaihts, to break Frank Herbert’s iconic 1965 tome into two parts. Bautista’s militaristic heavy Rabban had a small but important role in part one, as the tip of the spear in Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård)’s attack on House Atreides on the mineral-rich desert planet of Arrakis. This deceit took the life of Duke Atreides (Oscar Isaac) and sent his son Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and his wife Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) on the run into Arrakis’s vast desert, where problems big (colossal sand worms) and human-sized (the Fremen) could spell doom for them. Luckily, Paul had an ally in a Fremen named Chani (Zendaya), so Dune ended with Paul and Lady Jessica alive and heading deeper into the desert with the Fremen. From there, they hope to lead a rebellion to topple House Harkonnen.

Part Two will feature some of the most iconic scenes from Herbert’s book and includes a slew of important new characters, including Léa Seydoux’s Lady Margot, Florence Pugh’s Princess Irulan Corrino, Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, and Christopher Walken’s Emperor Shaddam IV. As for Bautista, his expanded role came with some insight he was willing to share with Collider about the scope and scale of the sequel.

“This is so amped up from the first film. The first film was just an introduction to what this film is. There’s just so much going on; it’s so much more cutthroat and political and intense,” he told Collider. “And there are moments of levity where [there are] some funny moments, and they’re kind of absurd humor, but there are those moments. So it’s just so much more amped up than the first film.”

Considering Part Two will complete Villeneuve’s full vision for his adaptation, it makes sense that the story will lean fully into the war between House Atreides and House Harkonnen without having to do the same amount of world-building that was necessary for the first film. We now know this world and the stakes; Part Two will be about what happens when Paul and the Fremen fight back. Bautista was especially thrilled to have a bigger role in the amped-up sequel and to get to spend more time with Villeneuve.

“You’ve heard me talk about the first film,” Bautista said to Collider. “It was that times 100 because it was Rabban amped up, and my part is much bigger on this. I got to spend much more time with Denny, which I crave because I love working with Denny. And Denny, again, just brings out the best in me, and this was such an amazing experience.”

Needless to say, Bautista sounds as fired up as the rest of us are for Dune: Part Two, which arrives in theaters on November 3, 2023.

For more on Dune: Part Two, check out these stories:

“Dune: Part Two” Wraps Filming

Léa Seydoux Will Play Lady Margot in “Dune: Part Two”

Florence Pugh Close to Joining “Dune: Part 2”

Featured image: Caption: DAVE BAUTISTA as Rabban Harkonnen in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures