Denis Villeneuve's films stand alone except Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024), which tell one story; watch everything in release order, from August 32nd on Earth (1998) and Incendies (2010) through Prisoners, Sicario, Arrival and Blade Runner 2049.
- Titles
- 11
- Films
- 11
- Watch time
- 23 hours
- Box office
- $1.80 billion
- Avg IMDb
- 7.5
Denis Villeneuve movies in release order
Here is every Denis Villeneuve title in the order it came out, 1998 to 2024: 11 films.
| # | Title | Year | Type | Runtime | IMDb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 32nd on Earth | 1998 | Film | 1h 28m | 6.5 |
| 2 | Maelström | 2000 | Film | 1h 27m | 6.7 |
| 3 | Polytechnique | 2009 | Film | 1h 17m | 7.2 |
| 4 | Incendies | 2010 | Film | 2h 11m | 6.9 |
| 5 | Prisoners | 2013 | Film | 2h 33m | 8.2 |
| 6 | Enemy | 2013 | Film | 2h 10m | 7.5 |
| 7 | Sicario | 2015 | Film | 2h 2m | 7.7 |
| 8 | Arrival | 2016 | Film | 1h 56m | 7.9 |
| 9 | Blade Runner 2049 | 2017 | Film | 2h 44m | 8 |
| 10 | Dune | 2021 | Film | 2h 35m | 8 |
| 11 | Dune: Part Two | 2024 | Film | 2h 47m | 8.4 |
Release or chronological: which order is best?
For Denis Villeneuve, release order and story order are the same thing: every film picks up after the one before it. There is no prequel to slot in early and no flashback to reshuffle, so the list above is the only order you need.
Where to start
Start with August 32nd on Earth and go in release order.
The whole thing is 23 hours. At two hours a night that is about 12 evenings.
The three highest rated: Dune: Part Two (8.4), Prisoners (8.2), and Blade Runner 2049 (8).
Every Denis Villeneuve movie, explained
One entry per title in release order: what it is about, why it matters to the bigger story, who is in it and how it did.
No. 01 · 1998 · Film · 1h 28m
August 32nd on Earth
After escaping unscathed from a car accident, photo model Simone decides that having a baby is the only way to give her vacant life some meaning. She asks her best friend Philippe to get her pregnant, and he reluctantly agrees, on the condition that they conceive somewhere in a desert, so they leave Montréal on a 24-hour round-trip to Salt Lake City to find a suitable spot.
Why it matters: Villeneuve's first feature, a French-language road film to the Utah salt flats.
- Starring
- Pascale Bussières, Alexis Martin, and Paule Baillargeon
- Director
- Denis Villeneuve
- Scores
- IMDb 6.5
No. 02 · 2000 · Film · 1h 27m
Maelström
A young woman's life spirals into chaos after she is involved in a hit-and-run accident. Then she encounters a mysterious man named Evian who offers her an opportunity for redemption. Narrated by a fish.
Why it matters: A hit-and-run driver falls for her victim's son, narrated by a talking fish.
- Starring
- Marie-Josée Croze, Jean-Nicolas Verreault, and Stephanie Morgenstern
- Director
- Denis Villeneuve
- Scores
- IMDb 6.7 · Rotten Tomatoes 79%
No. 03 · 2009 · Film · 1h 17m
Polytechnique
A dramatization of the École Polytechnique massacre in Montreal, on December 9, 1989, where 14 female engineering students were murdered (and 13 were wounded) by a 25 year old psychotic misogynist armed with a semi-automatic weapon.
Why it matters: A black-and-white account of the 1989 Montreal massacre of fourteen women.
- Starring
- Maxim Gaudette, Sébastien Huberdeau, and Karine Vanasse
- Director
- Denis Villeneuve
- Scores
- IMDb 7.2 · Rotten Tomatoes 88%
No. 04 · 2010 · Film · 2h 11m
Incendies
A mother's last wishes send twins Jeanne and Simon on a journey to Middle East in search of their tangled roots. Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad's acclaimed play, Incendies tells the powerful and moving tale of two young adults' voyage to the core of deep-rooted hatred, never-ending wars and enduring love.
Why it matters: Twins trace their mother's past in a Middle East war; nominated for the foreign-language Oscar.
- Starring
- Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, and Maxim Gaudette
- Director
- Denis Villeneuve
- Box office
- $7 million on a $7 million budget
- Scores
- IMDb 6.9
No. 05 · 2013 · Film · 2h 33m
Prisoners
After his six-year-old daughter is abducted, a desperate father takes justice into his own hands when he loses faith in the detective leading the investigation, setting both men on a collision course as the search descends into obsession and moral compromise.
Why it matters: Villeneuve's first English-language film: two girls vanish on Thanksgiving.
- Starring
- Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Viola Davis
- Director
- Denis Villeneuve
- Box office
- $122 million on a $46 million budget
- Scores
- IMDb 8.2 · Rotten Tomatoes 81%
No. 06 · 2013 · Film · 2h 10m
Enemy
Shotru (English: Enemy) is a 2011 Bengali action film directed by Raj Chakraborty and starring Jeet, Supriyo Dutta and Nusrat Jahan, who gave her debut by this film. This film was produced by Ashok Dhanuka of Eskay Movies who also distributed it. The movie is a remake of the Tamil film Singam which starred Surya and ...
Why it matters: Jake Gyllenhaal meets his double in a puzzling Toronto thriller full of spiders.
- Starring
- Prem Kumar and Dimple Chopade
- Scores
- IMDb 7.5
No. 07 · 2015 · Film · 2h 2m
Sicario
An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.
Why it matters: An FBI agent is pulled into a cartel operation on the Mexican border.
- Starring
- Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, and Josh Brolin
- Director
- Denis Villeneuve
- Box office
- $85 million on a $30 million budget
- Scores
- IMDb 7.7 · Rotten Tomatoes 91%
No. 08 · 2016 · Film · 1h 56m
Arrival
Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.
Why it matters: Amy Adams as a linguist decoding the language of alien visitors.
- Starring
- Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker
- Director
- Denis Villeneuve
- Box office
- $203 million on a $47 million budget
- Scores
- IMDb 7.9 · Rotten Tomatoes 94%
No. 09 · 2017 · Film · 2h 44m
Blade Runner 2049
Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.
Why it matters: K uncovers a secret 30 years later; Deckard returns.
- Starring
- Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, and Ana de Armas
- Director
- Denis Villeneuve
- Box office
- $259 million on a $150 million budget
- Scores
- IMDb 8 · Rotten Tomatoes 88%
No. 10 · 2021 · Film · 2h 35m
Dune
Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet's exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence - a commodity capable of unlocking humanity's greatest potential - only those who can conquer their fear will survive.
Why it matters: Paul Atreides arrives on Arrakis; the place to start.
- Starring
- Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, and Oscar Isaac
- Director
- Denis Villeneuve
- Box office
- $411 million on a $165 million budget
- Scores
- IMDb 8 · Rotten Tomatoes 83%
No. 11 · 2024 · Film · 2h 47m
Dune: Part Two
Follow the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, Paul endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
Why it matters: Paul joins the Fremen; finishes the first novel.
- Starring
- Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and Rebecca Ferguson
- Director
- Denis Villeneuve
- Box office
- $715 million on a $190 million budget
- Scores
- IMDb 8.4 · Rotten Tomatoes 92%
Denis Villeneuve box office and budgets
The 7 Denis Villeneuve films with reported numbers have grossed $1.80 billion worldwide on about $635 million in combined budgets, roughly 2.8 times what they cost. The biggest is Dune: Part Two at $715 million, 40% of the franchise's total on its own, followed by Dune ($411 million) and Blade Runner 2049 ($259 million).
Measured against what it cost, the best return belongs to Arrival, which made 4.3 times its $47 million budget. The weakest was Incendies at 100% of its $7 million budget. As a rule of thumb, a film needs about two and a half times its budget at the box office to cover marketing and the theaters' cut.
The best and worst rated Denis Villeneuve movies
Across 11 rated titles, Denis Villeneuve averages 7.5 on IMDb. The top of the list is Dune: Part Two at 8.4, then Prisoners (8.2) and Blade Runner 2049 (8). At the bottom: August 32nd on Earth (6.5) and Maelström (6.7).
- Dune: Part Two8.4 · RT 92%
- Prisoners8.2 · RT 81%
- Blade Runner 20498 · RT 88%
- Dune8 · RT 83%
- Arrival7.9 · RT 94%
- Sicario7.7 · RT 91%
- Enemy7.5
- Polytechnique7.2 · RT 88%
- Incendies6.9
- Maelström6.7 · RT 79%
Who appears in the most Denis Villeneuve movies
Josh Brolin leads with 3 appearances as Matt Graver and Gurney Halleck, ahead of Dave Bautista (3) and John Dunn-Hill (2). Counted from each title's top-billed cast.
| Actor | Role | Titles | First and latest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Brolin | Matt Graver / Gurney Halleck | 3 | Sicario (2015) to Dune: Part Two (2024) |
| Dave Bautista | Sapper Morton / Beast Rabban Harkonnen | 3 | Blade Runner 2049 (2017) to Dune: Part Two (2024) |
| John Dunn-Hill | Fishmonger / Professor Said Haidar | 2 | Maelström (2000) to Incendies (2010) |
| Maxim Gaudette | The Assassin / Simon Marwan | 2 | Polytechnique (2009) to Incendies (2010) |
| David Dastmalchian | Coco / Piter de Vries | 2 | Blade Runner 2049 (2017) to Dune (2021) |
| Timothée Chalamet | Paul Atreides | 2 | Dune (2021) to Dune: Part Two (2024) |
| Rebecca Ferguson | Lady Jessica Atreides / Jessica | 2 | Dune (2021) to Dune: Part Two (2024) |
| Stellan Skarsgård | Baron Vladimir Harkonnen / Baron Harkonnen | 2 | Dune (2021) to Dune: Part Two (2024) |
| Javier Bardem | Stilgar | 2 | Dune (2021) to Dune: Part Two (2024) |
Denis Villeneuve directors and creators
1 filmmaker has directed or created Denis Villeneuve; Denis Villeneuve has the most, with 10.
- Denis VilleneuveAugust 32nd on Earth (1998), Maelström (2000), Polytechnique (2009), Incendies (2010), Prisoners (2013), Sicario (2015), Arrival (2016), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Dune (2021), and Dune: Part Two (2024)
How long it takes to watch every Denis Villeneuve movie
All 11 titles add up to 23 hours. That is about 12 two-hour evenings, or 3 days of ten-hour binges. The longest film is Dune: Part Two at 2h 47m.
The 4 best rated films: Dune: Part Two, Prisoners, Blade Runner 2049, and Dune.
Everything takes about 4 weeks.
Track what you've watched on the timeline and it counts the hours left.
Common questions
What order should I watch the Denis Villeneuve movies in?
Denis Villeneuve's films stand alone except Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024), which tell one story; watch everything in release order, from August 32nd on Earth (1998) and Incendies (2010) through Prisoners, Sicario, Arrival and Blade Runner 2049.
How many Denis Villeneuve movies and shows are there?
There are 11 titles in the Denis Villeneuve franchise: 11 films and 0 series, released from 1998 to 2024.
How long does it take to watch all the Denis Villeneuve movies?
About 23 hours for all 11 titles, counting every episode.
What is the first Denis Villeneuve title in chronological order?
August 32nd on Earth, set in A road trip to the desert. In release order the first is August 32nd on Earth (1998).
What is the best Denis Villeneuve movie?
By IMDb score, Dune: Part Two (2024) at 8.4, followed by Prisoners at 8.2.
What is the highest-grossing Denis Villeneuve movie?
Dune: Part Two (2024), with $715 million worldwide. Denis Villeneuve films have made $1.80 billion in total.
Who has appeared in the most Denis Villeneuve movies?
Josh Brolin, in 3 of them as Matt Graver.
What is the longest Denis Villeneuve movie?
Dune: Part Two, at 2h 47m.
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