Even with the slew of casting announcements in recent months, there's been some tiny fear gnawing in the back of our heads that Dune: Part Two might turn out to be some giant galactic prank, getting our hopes up before the revelation that it's never going to happen. Good news then, for us and everyone who has been eagerly anticipating Denis Villeneuve's next Frank Herbert adaptation – the cameras are rolling on the main production process, as confirmed by the films' official Twitter account.
Dune: Part Two finds Villeneuve and co-writer Jon Spaihts tackling the second half of Herbert's novel, and chronicling Paul Atreides' (Timothée Chalamet) rise as a spiritual and military leader among the Fremen and his as Lady Jessica's (Rebecca Ferguson)'s campaign against the Harkonnen and the Emperor's forces on the planet Arrakis.
Alongside Chalamet and Ferguson, Zendaya, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin are among the cast from the first movie returning for this one.
New recruits this time include Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, Léa Seydoux as Lady Margot, Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen and Christopher Walken as the Emperor.
The new film will be out – if our prayers to Shai-Hulud are truly answered – on 17 November next year.