Where is Dune: Part Two filmed?

Visitors to south-west Jordan can expect plenty of incredible sights. For starters, there’s the Nabataean spectacle of Petra to admire, jet-black night skies and the never-ending tide of desert above which Sinai rosefinches twist in the air. Now, alongside these wonders, we can add film crews.

Hollywood filmmakers have seized on the Wadi Rum area in particular. Its otherworldly aesthetics have become cinematic shorthand for ‘alien world’, with recent blockbusters shot here including The Martian, Prometheus and a couple of Star Wars flicks. The latest to join their ranks is the new Dune franchise, the second instalment of which is out in March.

Jordan’s Wadi Rum takes centre stage as the desert planet Arrakis in the Dune films (Alamy)

Together with Abu Dhabi’s Liwa Desert, whose vast Empty Quarter dunes must have lit up the eyes of director Denis Villeneuve, Wadi Rum stands in for the spice-laden, sandworm-infested planet of Arrakis in the films. Given space operas have a habit of rallying the passports of fandom – especially to desert regions – if it does for Jordan and the UAE anything like 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope did for Tunisia, both can expect a deluge of pilgrims clutching sandy copies of Frank Herbert’s original books.

The sequel opens up Dune’s universe further, introducing the imperial House Corrino and their home planet of Kaitain, with one particularly arresting filming location being Italy’s Brion Tomb. Located in the village cemetery of San Vito d’Altivole, an hour’s drive from Venice, this outrageous dash of Modern architecture by Carlo Scarpa is the resting place of a family who, rather fittingly, made their money in TV manufacture. It also lies close to Treviso, whose waterways, frescoes and far fewer tourists make for a more chilled alternative to ‘the floating city’.

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Javier Bardem as Freman leader Stilgar in Dune: Part Two; (© 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved/Warner Bros. Pictures))

Elsewhere, Norway’s coastline gave shape to the fictional planet of Caladan, home of House Atreides, in the first film. The epic views off Myresanden on the Stadlandet Peninsula (six hours’ drive from Bergen) provided the location for our hero’s last glimpse of his world, and eager operators were quick to include it on itineraries, along with established travel spots such as Runde island and Geirangerfjord.

Further along the coast lies Kinn Island, whose cliffs make a memorable cameo in the series. Departing from Florø, a 45-minute boat ride drops you off on an island where rugged hikes and the gapped crest of Kinnaklova await. It’s a striking end to a journey that spans continents and galaxies.