2024 is shaping up to be a worm-ridingly excellent year.
Friday, Denis Villeneuve’s breathtaking Dune: Part Two, led by Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, brought an unparalleled cinematic experience to theaters across the U.S. Unsurprisingly, the latest Frank Herbert adaptation did so to the tune of an estimated $81.5 million at the weekend box office, marking career-bests for both the film's lead and its director.
As a sign of the understandably impassioned fan response to the franchise’s continued ascension, a recent TikTok shows how one enthusiast took a particularly inspired route when commemorating Part Two’s release.
As seen below, an unidentified individual at an AMC theater in Tulsa, Oklahoma decked themselves out in full-fledged Fremen garb and proceeded to ride a homemade sandworm through the lobby to the presumed delight of fellow Dune-goers.
The folks at Dolby were quick to offer their assessment, saying this is the "level of commitment" they "love to see."
One of the film’s most visually arresting sequences sees Chalamet’s character, Paul Atreides, taking on the potentially perilous challenge of calling and subsequently riding a shockingly massive sandworm. The process of bringing this scene and other worm-riding sequences to life was a daunting one, only made possible by the production's designated "Worm Unit" helmed by producer Tanya Lapointe, Denis' wife.
As Villeneuve recently explained to Entertainment Weekly, the source material from Herbert does not go into extensive detail about how one might successfully engage in an act of walloping wormery, thus necessitating the Worm Unit.
Dune: Part Two, worms and all, is now playing at a theater near you. Believe the hype. Joining Chalamet and Zendaya in the epic’s truly stacked cast are Rebecca Ferguson, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Charlotte Rampling, Javier Bardem, Christopher Walken, and more.
Given the enthusiastic response to Part Two thus far, it would seemingly be safe to assume that a third film, tentatively titled Dune Messiah, is indeed on the horizon.
