In less than two months, Dune: Part Three will be in theaters. That a film trilogy has begun and ended in five years feels like a feat these days, but if there’s one thing Denis Villeneuve’s franchise has shown, it’s that when things go right, audiences are more than willing to show up for that occasion.

Villeneuve helmed the first screen adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel since the 2000 Sci-Fi Channel miniseries, and the first film since David Lynch’s go in 1984. There’ve been more failed attempts at bringing the book to film than have actually come out, with Paramount trying in the mid-2000s before dropping out in 2011. Legendary acquired the rights to Dune in 2016 and the Canadian director landing the gig shortly after.

Villeneuve’s plan was to split the first book into two movies, which ended up being one of the few things that went as intended, since the pandemic pushed Dune: Part One ‘s release date back a few times.…