Mercifully, Dune: Part Two is almost upon us. But first, we have some documented difficulties of the desert variety from Austin Butler, who plays Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in the film.
“It was 110 degrees and so hot,” Butler said of his first week on the set of the Denis Villeneuve-directed sequel, per a recent feature from Christian Holub for Entertainment Weekly. “I had the bald cap on, and it was between two soundstages that were just these gray boxes of 200-foot walls and sand. It became like a microwave. There were people passing out from heatstroke."
The cast is led by Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya but also boasts Rebecca Ferguson, Florence Pugh, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Javier Bardem, and more.
According to Butler, the unique shooting circumstances brought everyone together.
“There’s something so humbling about being in such an uncomfortable environment,” he told EW.
Dune: Part Two touched down in London earlier this month for its world premiere. While the film won't hit U.S. theaters until March 1, the recently unleashed wave of first reactions suggest Dune-thusiasts will be quite pleased with what Villeneuve and company have pulled off this time around. In fact, comments from early viewers briefly placed the James Cameron classic Terminator: Judgment Day, itself a sequel to The Terminator, at the center of the conversation.
There's a chance we'll be getting one more Dune-related entry from Villeneuve, who previously expressed interest in bringing Frank Herbert's Dune Messiah to the big screen.
