DUNE Writer Eric Roth Discusses the Film's Sequel and the Writing Process

The release of Dune is still a couple of months away, but we are getting to know more and more about this sci-fi epic as October approaches. Collider recently spoke to Eric Roth, co-writer for the film, and he revealed a bit about his initial involvement, what the movie covers, and his hopes for the future of Dune.

Roth had this to say about writing with Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve:

“[Working on Dune] was wonderful. I'd done some work for Denis on Arrival and we became kind of a little bit of soulmates. And so when Dune came along, he asked me if I would approach it. And I did, and I wrote a big, full, overwritten Eric Roth draft that had certain things special to me. It needed to be, honestly, cut down and sort of harnessed, and Denis did some of that, and they eventually brought in a writer — I was busy, so they brought in a a writer named Jon Spaihts, who is a wonderful writer, who I think kept it grounded. And I think he... I don't want to say Lord of the Rings, but I think it's really pretty spectacular. He’s a visionary of his own kind, Denis.”

He then revealed more or less that the first film will only be the first half of the original novel:

“It’s completely the first half. Yeah. I didn't know when we started, so I think I adapted a little more than the first half and started going into the second half of the book. But I've seen the film, it's pretty much the first half.”

And lastly, we may not get a confirmation that a sequel is happening, but Roth seems hopeful and has even written a treatment:

“I [wrote] a treatment to show the estate what we could do with the second half, but I’ve got to tell you that I think I've done as much as I can do…hopefully people love Dune so much that they do want to have a second part, and I'm sure Denis would do amazing version of that.”

Dune is currently set to be released October 1st. With such a star-studded cast — Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Dave Bautista, and Rebecca Ferguson to name a few — it can’t help but be one of the most anticipated films of the year.

Would you like a sequel to a film you haven’t seen yet? Are you going back or reading the book for the first time? Are you sad that you probably won’t see a shirtless Jason Momoa as much in the movie? Let us know what you’re excited about in the comments below.