Dune: The Deserts Behind Arrakis

Caladan is where the films begin: an Imperial delegation comes to the planet, and soon Duke Leto Atreides is assigned by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV to replace Baron Vladimir Harkonnen as fiefholder of Arrakis. Villeneuve gave the planet dramatic coastal mountain ranges and forests of Norwegian pines, and Stadlandet in Norway doubled for it, a peninsula in Vestland county on the exposed west coast. Ervik sits on its northwestern tip, Selje on the southwestern side.

Location precision: Stadlandet is a whole peninsula; the pin marks its centre.

Arrakis is a harsh desert planet and the sole source of spice, a valuable psychotropic substance that imparts heightened vitality and awareness. Wadi Rum in Jordan doubled for it in Part One, and Part Two came back to Jordan for canyon landscapes including Wadi Rum, al-Siq and Dabet Hanut. The valley is cut into sandstone and granite rock, and today it is a tourist attraction offering guided tours, hiking and rock climbing.

Location precision: Wadi Rum is a whole valley; the pin marks its centre.

Visitor guidance: Guided tours, hiking and rock climbing are all on offer.

The Liwa Oasis in the United Arab Emirates served as a key backdrop for Arrakis, with filming across 11 days, and Part Two chose it again for footage among the sand dunes. The rock formations that serve as the Fremen's heat shelters were filmed in the Rub' al Khali desert, on whose northern edge Liwa lies. Liwa is a large oasis area in Abu Dhabi with some 50 villages.

Location precision: Liwa stretches across some 50 villages; the pin marks its centre.

Principal photography began on 18 March 2019 at Origo Film Studios in Budapest, with Greig Fraser as cinematographer. Many practical sets on the soundstages and backlots served as interiors for all three planets. Parts of the Arrakeen invasion — shots of Gurney Halleck, extras and practical explosions — were filmed on the Budapest backlots. Ornithopter interiors were shot on hilltops outside the city: a 25-foot, 360° sand-coloured ramp circled a large gimbal so Fraser could film in natural sunlight.

In Part Two, Paul threatens to destroy the spice fields, forcing Emperor Shaddam to come to Arrakis with Irulan and his elite Sardaukar soldiers. The imperial court scenes were filmed at the Brion tomb during a two-day pre-shoot in early July, inside a municipal cemetery in Altivole, Italy, with the site doubling for the court in scenes with Irulan and Shaddam. The tomb near Treviso is the Brion family's burial ground, regarded as a masterpiece of post-modernist architecture.