Dune timeline

Last updated on April 22, 2024

Director Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 movie adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune has undoubtedly achieved a level of success well beyond the original 1984 version by David Lynch or the Children of Dune 2003 miniseries signed by Greg Yaitanes. The second instalment of the story, Dune Part 2, was received with even more enthusiasm by the public.

A monumental, incredibly immersive experience, close attention to the details in the book, excellent casting choices and a sense of love for Herbert’s work characterize the entire film. Villeneuve has also managed to achieve something far greater with Dune: resurrecting what previously appeared to be a dead franchise and transforming it into a series of blockbusters for the general public to enjoy, while still keeping the diehard fans happy.

Who is in the cast of Dune Part 1?

It’s doubtful that the film could have achieved this level of success without the stellar performance of the superb lineup. Just take a look at the main cast:

• Paul Atreides: Timothée Chalamet;
• Lady Jessica: Rebecca Ferguson;
• Duke Leto Atreides: Oscar Isaac;
• Gurney Halleck: Josh Brolin;
• Baron Vladimir Harkonnen: Stellan Skarsgård;
• Glossu Rabban: Dave Bautista;
• Chani: Zendaya;
• Thufir Hawat: Stephen McKinley Henderson;
• Dr. Liet Kynes: Sharon Duncan-Brewster;
• Dr. Wellington Yueh: Chang Chen;
• Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam: Charlotte Rampling;
• Duncan Idaho: Jason Momoa;
• Stilgar: Javier Bardem.

Who is in the cast of Dune Part 2?

Viewers will encounter many of the characters from part 1 in the second instalment of the story, but also be acquainted with a few new ones:

• Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen: Austin Butler
• Princess Irulan: Florence Pugh
• Lady Fenrig: Léa Seydoux
• Emperor Shaddam IV: Christopher Walken
• Paul Atreides: Timothée Chalamet;
• Lady Jessica: Rebecca Ferguson;
• Gurney Halleck: Josh Brolin;
• Baron Vladimir Harkonnen: Stellan Skarsgård;
• Glossu Rabban: Dave Bautista;
• Chani: Zendaya;
• Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam: Charlotte Rampling;
• Stilgar: Javier Bardem;

Before we go into the events of the movie, let’s find out a bit more about the Dune novels and the universe in which the story is set.

What is the story in the Dune saga?

Herbert’s novels tell the story of a distant future where noble houses of all shapes and sizes cling to a fragile peace within the interstellar imperium. The fuel that powers this universe – or more accurately that enables space travel – is ‘spice’ or ‘melange’, a drug with multiple uses that’s only found on the inhospitable desert planet of Arrakis. Spice also gives the user foresight, extends life and improves mental capabilities.

Dune is a complex and multifaceted story about religion, politics, technology and, last but not least, the human spirit. Over the course of many millennia, you’ll witness the rise and fall of great rulers and houses, follow the exploits of daring individuals whose actions will shape all history – with or without their consent –, feel the hand of fate curbing free will, and learn the dangers of prophecy and messiahs firsthand.

Just how many Dune books are there?

There are 6 original novels written by Frank Herbert himself. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1986 before he was able to complete the series. The torch was taken up by his son, Brian Herbert, who co-wrote the next 9 books with Kevin J. Anderson.

Brian and Kevin authored sequels to the original series as well as prequels, expanding on story arcs that were just hinted in Frank’s books, like the Butlerian Jihad and the Machine Crusade. The new novels also cover the origin stories of popular houses and characters in the ‘Duniverse’. We created this handy Dune reading order timeline to clarify the chronology of the books.

That’s a lot to unpack, isn’t it? The Dune universe is complex and, as you can see, it spans over 15,000 years, if we’re also counting the books by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. We placed Frank Herbert’s originals above the timeline so you can distinguish them easily, while also keeping track of how they fit into the overall chronology. Let’s backtrack a bit to the part of this world that you can see in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune.

How far into the first Dune book does the first movie go?

Frank Herbert’s Dune was published as two ‘Analog’ magazine serials, which eventually comprised the two volumes of the 1965 novel. Denis Villeneuve’s first movie covers the first part of this novel, which ends with a bit of a cliffhanger. On a side note, this is perhaps the main reason why the film’s critics labelled it ‘unfinished’.

Even by restricting the events to volume one, the movie is still a whooping 2 hours and 35 minutes long and sadly, some important scenes didn’t make the final cut. For instance, we won’t get to hear Josh Brolin playing the baliset, a fictional musical instrument with 9 chords, somewhat akin to the zither.

***Spoilers alert***

What events are covered in the Dune 2021 movie?

Our story begins with the Atreides noble family, Duke Leto Atreides, his concubine Jessica and their son Paul. We learn that Emperor Shaddam IV assigned House Atreides to the fiefdom of Arrakis, displacing the original rulers and long-time nemeses of the protagonists, House Harkonnen. The assignment smells an awful lot like a trap and the duke knows it, but it’s an ‘offer you can’t refuse’ type deal. The alternative is exile and forfeiture of Atreides assets.

Premonitions and tests

It’s about the same time that Paul Atreides begins to have strange recurrent dreams about a girl on Arrakis. Before they depart, his mother introduces him to a member of her ‘cult’ – the Bene Gesserit – who puts Paul through his first test: stick your hand in the pain box and keep it there, remove it and die instantly. Fortunately, the training of his mother proves fruitful and Paul survives unscathed. It’s around this time that the term Kwisatz Haderach starts to be thrown around.

Arrakis and betrayals

Upon reaching the planet of Arrakis, the Atreides are received with both hope and weariness by the locals, who are called Fremen. The family slowly work on building trust, but a sudden and unexpected betrayal on the part of their Suk doctor – Wellington Yueh – cuts their reign short. Dr. Yueh lowers the shields and allows a combined Imperial Sardaukar and Harkonnen assault to penetrate the Atreides defenses. The Atreides forces are decimated in the onslaught.

Close calls and newfound allies

While Yueh and Leto are killed along with numerous other Atreides, Paul and Jessica manage to escape into the desert. The Harkonnen control Arrakis once more and proceed to hunt them down, but lose them in a sandstorm. In the desert, Paul and Jessica come across a tribe of fremen and their leader Stilgar, whom they had previously met. After proving their mettle, the two lost Atreides join up with the tribe and make their way to Sietch Tabr, one of the hidden desert communities unknown to the Harkonnen.

But, not before Paul finally discovers the mysterious ‘girl of his dreams’, learns the meaning of Kwisatz Haderach and kills a man in knife combat for the first time! This is an oversimplified high-level overview of the film, of course, there’s so much more happening on screen, and in the book. To map out the events more easily, we created this handy Dune 2021 movie timeline. However, before you walk the ‘Golden Path’ without rhythm (so you don’t attract the worm) we strongly recommend watching the movie first.

Dune movie timeline

What events are covered in the Dune Part 2 movie?

The second part of the Dune trilogy intended by Villeneuve picks up exactly where the original one left off. Paul, Jessica and their newfound fremen hosts are crossing the desert on the way to Sietch Tabr, when they unexpectedly run into a Harkonnen patrol. The fremen fedaykin set up an ambush and make quick work of the interlopers. Our two Atreides also do their part for the environment and dispatch a couple of Harkonnen, by sword and boulder respectively.

Back in the control room of Arakeen, a frustrated Rabban loses his cool over his troops’ incompetence in dealing with the fremen threat and introduces an underling’s face to a command console repeatedly. An understandable response, considering both the brutish nature of the character and the mounting pressure from Baron Harkonnen to resume spice production ASAP.

Sietch Tabr reception, messiahs and trials

Upon reaching Sietch Tabr, Paul and Jessica receive a mixed welcome from the local fremen. The religious fundamentalists view Paul as the prophesized savior Lisan-al-Gaib (the voice from another world), a legend engineered by the Bene Gesserit department of propaganda many years ago. Others (well, Chani), the sceptics, view the Atreides as outsiders who are no better than the current masters, the Harkonnen, and refuse to subscribe to the manipulation.

Stilgar leads Jessica on a visit to the Sacred Pools, where the water of the dead is collected. Here, the fremen leader springs on her (pun intended) a difficult choice: undergo a potentially deadly ritual and become the tribe’s new Reverend Mother or suffer the same fate as any outsider. To quote Stilgar: “What else is left to do then, but to return your water to the well?”.

Jessica survives the Water-of-Life-drinking-trial thanks to the Bene Gesserit ability to break down any poison ingested. This feat is taken by many of the fremen as confirmation that she is indeed the mother of Lisan-al-Gaib, as foretold by the legend. While Paul is still struggling to accept his messianic role, Jessica sets in motion a plan to convert all the fremen and rally them in the fight against the Harkonnen.

Fighting alongside the fremen, Paul proves his mettle and is awarded two new names: Usul (“the strength at the base of the pillar”) and Muad’Dib (the name of a little desert mouse). The latter might seem a little silly, but Stilgar is one hundred percent behind it, quoting the wisdom of the tiny desert creature and the ability to create his own water, as well as it, erm, fertility.

The Harkonnen, Giedi prime and the new villain

Meanwhile, things aren’t going well for Rabban, who keeps failing to bring Arrakis in line and resume spice production, mainly due to Paul-now-Muad’Dib’s raids in the north. But, as it goes on Arrakis, one man’s Coriolis storm is another’s uplifting current, and this is the case for Feyd-Rautha, the new up-and-coming villain in Dune Part 2.

The movie takes us on a brief trip to Giedi Prime, the Harkonnen homeworld, an unsettling monochromatic landscape where the sun burns so bright its light washes away all trace of color. It’s an intentional stark contrast from the radiant-gold-to-the-point-where-it’s-retina-searing light of the fremen’s home planet of Arrakis. Villeneuve wanted to illustrate the impact of an environment on a civilization: a sterile wasteland breeding a cruel, fascist-like political system versus the unforgiving desert where faith is the people’s main drive forward.

Feyd-Rautha wastes no time establishing his truly horrendous character and cruelty. We first meet the character with his entourage of cannibals, dealing death at the slightest provocation. However, unlike Rabban, he turns out to also be a gifted combatant in the arena and possessed of an intellect that’s worlds apart; a villain worthy of standing to toe with the powerhouse that Muad’Dib is quickly becoming.

Bene Gesserit, plans within plans and politics

The Bene Gesserit have also taken notice of Feyd’s capabilities, and Lady Fenrig sets out to test, seduce, and get impregnated by him (in this order). Reverend Mother Helen Gaius Mohiam believes he can replace Paul in the order’s plan to bring about a Kwisatz Haderach, as the first-to-last rung in the genetic ladder. 

Awarded the fiefdom of Arrakis in lieu of Rabban, Feyd-Rauth begins a brutal (and quite successful) campaign against the unruly fremen, raining down artillery fire on their underground sietches.

Kwisatz Haderach, the path and Holy War

But Paul Muad’Dib isn’t one to stand idly by while the Harkonnen butchers his newfound friends. Recently reunited with Gurney Halleck in the sands of Arrakis, Paul is reminded of the Atreides atomic weapons and begins to devise a plan to bring the entire empire to its knees. Still brooding about his noir character role in the prophecy, he reluctantly drinks the Water of Life aaaand…presto! Kwisatz Haderach!

Paul has now become the culmination of the Bene Gesserit’s generation-long breeding program, a being possessed of both male and female genetic memories of his ancestors and endowed with the added bonus of seeing the future. The brooding, conflicted Paul is gone. The transformation allows him to foresee the path where taking up the messiah role leads to a war that will soak the galaxy in the blood of billions (estimated 61.3bn), which is still somehow preferable to the alternatives.

In a seriously miscalculated step, Emperor Shaddam IV descends on Arrakis with the full might of his Sardaukar forces, hoping to bring an end to the conflict himself. Unfortunately for him, the worm-riding fremen overpower the Sardaukar, take the emperor prisoner and Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is executed by Paul.

Shaddam’s last hope is dashed when his unlikely champion, Feyd-Rautha dies in a duel with Paul. He is forced to concede the throne and his daughter’s – Irulan – hand in marriage to the Atreides. The story might’ve ended right then and there, had the other Great Houses accepted Paul’s claim to the throne.

They don’t. This refusal sparks the galactic war, which Muad’Dib is fully prepared to embrace. He issues the order “Lead us to paradise” to the fremen troops and Holy War begins, but without Chani who calls a sandworm-Uber and takes off for the South, refusing to be part of Paul’s conflict.

Dune Part 2 movie timeline

Upcoming: Dune Messiah

During a press conference from December 2023, director Denis Villeneuve announced that the script for the third and final installment in Paul Atreides’ story arc was almost finished. Dune 3 will be based on the events in Frank Herbert’s book Dune Messiah. This volume follows Muad’Dib in his newfound role as Padishah Emperor of the Known Universe, navigating the intricate political web while struggling with the curse of knowing the future and the consequences of his own actions.

Villeneuve intends to stay faithful to the original source material, while also infusing the production with personal interpretations and original elements. While an official release date has not been announced, rumor has it that Dune 3 will most likely be released sometime in 2027.

About the Dune timelines

The Dune timelines were created with the help of Office Timeline, a powerful project management tool that helps you create amazing visuals within minutes. Try out the free trial to create complex Gantt charts, timelines and roadmaps with just a few clicks.