How “Dune: Part Two” Expands Zendaya's Role After She Was Only in “Part One” for 7 Minutes (2024)

After filming for only a week and appearing in seven minutes of 2021’s ‘Dune,’ Zendaya leads the sequel in a more substantial way

How “Dune: Part Two” Expands Zendaya's Role After She Was Only in “Part One” for 7 Minutes (1)

Zendaya had top billing in 2021’s Dune — but it’s in the new sequel that the actress truly gets the chance to shine.

Dune: Part Two, in theaters now, features the 27-year-old Euphoria star reprising her role as Chani, a warrior of the Fremen people who hide in the deserts of planet Arrakis. (Spoiler alert: as trailers have revealed, the sequel includes far more Zendaya than in the first installment.)

Dune introduced Chani via the prophetic visions of Paul Atreides, played by Timothée Chalamet. When he finally meets the young woman in person and is taken further into the desert, she promises this marks “only the beginning” in what turns out to be the movie’s closing moments.

Related: Timothée Chalamet Rides a Sandworm in 'Dune: Part Two' Trailer — Which Promises More Zendaya

Writer-director Denis Villeneuve designed his Dune adaptation as a two-parter covering the plot of author Frank Herbert’s original novel that in 1965 became a science fiction classic. A follow-up was not guaranteed, however; it wasn’t until days after Dune premiered in theaters and on HBO Max in 2021 that production company Legendary Entertainment and distributor Warner Bros. greenlit a sequel due to its box office — and later Oscar-winning — success.

Because Chani appears primarily in the second half of Herbert’s book as Paul adapts to life in the Arrakis desert, Zendaya’s role in Part One served mostly as a set-up to the events of a sequel.

How “Dune: Part Two” Expands Zendaya's Role After She Was Only in “Part One” for 7 Minutes (2)

For many Zendaya fans, her seven minutes of screentime in the two-and-a-half-hour movie were a letdown, especially after the Spider-Man star had appeared in countless press events and premieres.

Villeneuve, 56, admitted to The Los Angeles Times in 2021 that “some characters that are less developed… I'm keeping for the second film — that's the way I found the equilibrium. We tried in this movie to stay as close as possible to Paul's experience. Then, in the second one, I will have time to develop some characters that were left aside a little bit.”

As Zendaya said in an interview with PEOPLE, her audition for the role of Chani predated the release of the HBO hit that considerably raised the star’s profile and made her the youngest-ever Emmy winner for best actress in a drama series.

Related: Timothée Chalamet Calls 'Dune' Costar Zendaya His 'Sister,' Says She Has Expanded Role in Sequel

“Before Euphoria came out,” she said, “I heard that Denis was making this and that there might be something that I could do in it. I was like, ‘Hi, can I audition?’”

Zendaya revealed to Entertainment Weekly earlier this month that her appearance in Part One amounted to a week of filming in the deserts of Abu Dhabi and Jordan. However, she said, that made her all the more excited to revisit Chani: “It was fun to figure out and live with her a little bit longer because a week wasn't enough!”

Villeneuve added that in the latter half of Herbert’s novel, Chani and Lady Jessica (played in the movies by Rebecca Ferguson) “are a bit more in the background — which I didn't like, because I am absolutely in love with both characters… I felt it was more meaningful to give them more substance and presence, their own agendas.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

How “Dune: Part Two” Expands Zendaya's Role After She Was Only in “Part One” for 7 Minutes (3)

For Chani, that meant expanding the role beyond simply being Paul’s love interest. Dune: Part Two sees the character wrestling with the tension between falling for a foreigner and disagreeing with him ideologically as he embraces becoming the Fremen people’s saintly icon. “It’s constantly something that she's battling inside of herself,” Zendaya told EW. “That gave me something more to hold onto, and I really appreciated that.”

As Villeneuve further explained, giving Chani “a different agenda” than her passive acceptance of Paul in Herbert’s original novel enabled him to “bring a different perspective to the story.”

“[Herbert] was disappointed at how people perceived Paul,” the French-Canadian filmmaker told the outlet. “In his mind, Dune was a cautionary tale — a warning against charismatic figures. He felt that Paul was perceived as a hero, when he wanted to do the opposite.”

Dune Messiah, the second novel in the series published in 1969, “makes it very clear this story is not a victory, it’s a tragedy,” said Villeneuve. “With humility, I hope that this adaptation is closer to Frank Herbert’s original intentions. I used Chani’s character to do so.”

How “Dune: Part Two” Expands Zendaya's Role After She Was Only in “Part One” for 7 Minutes (4)

Related: Zendaya Makes $100,000 Donation to Bay Area Theater Where She Got Her Start

Mild spoilers ahead: considering Part Two ends with Paul and Chani both alive — and their romantic relationship uncertain, given how much she objects to his becoming a messianic leader — fans could see even more Zendaya if the Dune franchise continues.

Herbert wrote five Dune novels, while his son Brian wrote further sequels, prequels and spin-offs within the literary universe. In 2021, Villeneuve told EW that he would like to make “at least threeDune movies.

Last August, the filmmaker told Empire that “there are words on paper” for a third film. “If I succeed in making a trilogy, that would be the dream,” he said.

Dune: Part Two, costarring Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux, Anya Taylor-Joy, Christopher Walken, and returning cast members Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling and Javier Bardem, is in theaters now.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.

How “Dune: Part Two” Expands Zendaya's Role After She Was Only in “Part One” for 7 Minutes (2024)

FAQs

How “Dune: Part Two” Expands Zendaya's Role After She Was Only in “Part One” for 7 Minutes? ›

6. For Chani, that meant expanding the role beyond simply being Paul's love interest. Dune: Part Two

Dune: Part Two
Dune: Part Two is a 2024 American epic science fiction film directed and co-produced by Denis Villeneuve, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jon Spaihts. The sequel to Dune (2021), it is the second of a two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Dune:_Part_Two
sees the character wrestling with the tension between falling for a foreigner and disagreeing with him ideologically as he embraces becoming the Fremen people's saintly icon.

What happens to Zendaya in Dune: Part 2? ›

Chani is betrayed by Paul after guiding him throughout the film. At the end of Dune: Part Two, Chani is betrayed by Paul's decision to marry Princess Irulan after he defeats Feyd-Rautha. Chani, played by Zendaya, is first introduced in Dune (2021) as a mysterious subject in Paul's visions.

How much did Zendaya get paid for Dune: Part 2? ›

How much did Zendaya get Paid Dune Part Two? Reports suggest Zendaya is taking home a cool $2 million for her role as Chani in “Dune: Part Two.” This is a substantial jump compared to her first appearance in the franchise. In the initial film, her role was relatively brief, and her salary likely reflected that.

How is Dune: Part 2 different from the book? ›

Villeneuve intentionally changed Paul's character to be more aggressive in Dune: Part Two than the books portray. According to him, this was to correct a mistake Herbert made in the books in which the readers truly loved Paul as a hero. Herbert intended him to be an antihero.

How long was Zendaya in Dune 1? ›

Zendaya was only on screen in the first Dune for seven minutes, but she made bank. The Disney alum took home $300,000, according to multiple reports. Why was the talented actress featured for a small portion of the two-hour long film?

Will Zendaya be in Dune 3? ›

Prior to the premiere of Dune: Part Two, Zendaya stated in a recent interview with Fandango that returning for a potential Dune Messiah film is a decision that seems easy to make. With confidence, the Euphoria actress declared that she would definitely play Chani in a future installment of the franchise.

Does Paul love Chani? ›

Paul is immediately attracted to her, in part due to his prior connection to her, and they quickly form a friendship when she is assigned to look after Paul and Lady Jessica. Eventually, Chani becomes Paul's lover and bears him a son, Leto II, who is murdered by enemies of House Atreides.

Who was the highest paid actor in Dune? ›

Dune 2 Actors' Salary: Timothée Chalamet and Jason Momoa Earned Way More Money Than Zendaya and Rebecca Ferguson For Dune - IMDb. Timothée Chalamet and the ensemble vast of 2021's Dune are set to return in the sequel to the hit sci-fi epic directed by Denis Villeneuve.

How much did Timothée Chalamet get paid for Dune 2? ›

Question, how much of Dune 2's reasonable budget is due to famous actors taking pay cuts to be part of it? 'DUNE: PART TWO' cast salaries (rumored): Chalamet: $3M. Zendaya: $2M.

How much did Austin Butler get paid for Dune 2? ›

Believe it or not, but us and Butler and Florence speakers. are surprisingly getting the least amount of money here, with the two of them only earning a total of $250,000. When it comes to Josh Brolin and Dave Bautista salary. in this movie, Josh Brolin cashed out a total of $500,000.

What did Dune Part 2 change? ›

While the first film stayed incredibly close to the book's early chapters, this follow-up makes a few fundamental changes. Entire characters are cut (sorry, Count Fenring!), and the timeline is reordered and altered, meaning that the reasons why characters make certain decisions also shift.

Is Dune 3 confirmed? ›

Dune 3 finally has a confirmed release date, but we're in for a long wait to return to Arrakis for the third movie. In late June 2024, Warner Bros confirmed that a previously untitled "event film" in December 2026 was now an "untitled Denis Villeneuve film".

Why is Dune 2 so popular? ›

Because Dune: Part Two is even better than the first film. The stakes somehow feel exponentially higher, the power struggles are even more mythic and Shakespearean, the onscreen world-building is richer and more exotically filigreed, and the visuals are even more epic and dazzling—something I didn't think was possible.

How old was Zendaya in Dune 2? ›

Dune: Part Two, in theaters now, features the 27-year-old Euphoria star reprising her role as Chani, a warrior of the Fremen people who hide in the deserts of planet Arrakis.

How much did Zendaya get paid for Dune Part One? ›

How much did Zendaya get Paid Dune Part One? While the exact figure remains under wraps due to the secretive nature of actor contracts, multiple sources report Zendaya took home a cool $300,000 for her role as Chani, a Fremen warrior and love interest of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet).

How big is Zendaya's role in Dune? ›

As it turns out, the character of Chani (Zendaya) doesn't have as large a role in the second half of author Frank Herbert's 1965 sci-fi novel, Dune. This is not the case in Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two. Expanding Chani's role in Part Two will undoubtedly spill over into the future sequel, Dune Messiah.

What happens to Chani in Dune 2 ending? ›

In Herbert's novel, Chani continues to stand by Paul and bears his children, despite his marriage to another woman. But in director Denis Villeneuve's film, Chani storms out of the building. The last shot of the film is her summoning a sandworm to take her as far away as possible.

Why is Chani so angry in Dune 2? ›

Chani Is Afraid To Lose Paul

While Paul galvanizes the crowd, Chani looks tearful and angry. Paul's willingness to embrace the messiah role is a moral betrayal, but Paul's actions also mean Chani will lose the person she loves to his terrifying, villainous potential.

What happens to Paul at the end of Dune Messiah? ›

With Paul's visions gone, he is now blind, and he chooses to walk into the desert in the Fremen tradition, winning the fealty of the Fremen for his children, of whom Leto II will inherit his mantle of Emperor. Paul leaves Alia as regent for his children.

What happens at the end of the dune Part 2? ›

As the winner of the knife fight against House Harkonnen and having secured Arrakis, and therefore its wealthy spice production, Paul gets engaged to Princess Irulan and secures his place as Emperor. Everybody kneels but Chani, who furiously leaves the room and heads out into the desert as Dune 2 ends.

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Errol Quitzon

Last Updated:

Views: 6259

Rating: 4.9 / 5 (59 voted)

Reviews: 82% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Errol Quitzon

Birthday: 1993-04-02

Address: 70604 Haley Lane, Port Weldonside, TN 99233-0942

Phone: +9665282866296

Job: Product Retail Agent

Hobby: Computer programming, Horseback riding, Hooping, Dance, Ice skating, Backpacking, Rafting

Introduction: My name is Errol Quitzon, I am a fair, cute, fancy, clean, attractive, sparkling, kind person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.