Four Oscar Voters Admit They Didn’t Watch ‘Dune: Part Two’ and Left It Off Their Best Picture Ballot

As the 2025 Academy Awards approach, a behind-the-scenes look at the voting process has revealed a surprising detail—several Oscar voters admitted they did not watch Dune: Part Two and chose to leave it off their Best Picture ballots.

Entertainment Weekly’s annual Secret Ballot survey gave insight into how some anonymous Academy members made their choices. Out of the four voters interviewed—a director, a writer, a publicist, and a casting director—all of them revealed they did not see Dune: Part Two and therefore abstained from ranking it.

The reasons for skipping the film varied. One voter, a director, admitted struggling with the first Dune movie and was not eager to sit through another three-hour installment.

The first Dune, I couldn’t get through; I’m not rushing for another three hours of Dune. There’s still time to re-evaluate, but I really struggled.

Another, a writer, simply had not gotten around to watching it but made it clear that other films took priority.

I haven’t seen Dune, so I’d have to abstain from that. This is tough

A publicist explained that their experience watching Denis Villeneuve’s first Dune left them feeling bored, so they weren’t motivated to see the sequel. The casting director, meanwhile, stated they had not seen either Dune film and felt it would be unfair to rank it without watching.

With Dune: Part Two, I’d seen the David Lynch version of Dune, and I saw [Denis Villeneuve’s] first one, which I was super bored by. I place it on myself; when I walked into the theater, I wasn’t in the right headspace. It wasn’t compelling to me. I’m open to sci-fi, but I think it had something to do with whatever I’d gone through that day….

Despite being a major blockbuster and a strong contender in several categories, Dune: Part Two being skipped by multiple voters raises questions about how widely it was viewed within the Academy.

While the film is expected to perform well in technical categories, its chances of winning Best Picture may be impacted if enough voters have not seen it.

One anonymous voter was already enraged claiming that Oscar voters messed up this year:

“How has Denis not won four Oscars already? I don’t understand how the studio and, quite frankly, us Oscar voters f— this up so bad?”

This reaction highlights just how much Dune: Part Two was expected to dominate the awards season. The first Dune film won six Oscars in 2022, including Best Cinematography, Best Sound, and Best Visual Effects. Many assumed the sequel would follow a similar path, if not exceed it.

Instead of Dune: Part Two, films like Anora, The Brutalist, Emilia Pérez, and Conclave have emerged as frontrunners.

• Anora has won nearly every major pre-Oscar award, including the Palme d’Or and Critics Choice, making it a favorite among voters.
• The Brutalist is a sprawling historical epic that has earned international acclaim, winning Best Picture at the Golden Globes.
• Conclave, a Vatican-set thriller, performed well at the BAFTAs but may not have enough momentum to claim the top prize.
• Emilia Pérez absolutely dominated the nominations, currently holding 13.

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