If you watched Dune: Part 2 this weekend, but did not ride a sandworm, then Jesse Myer went just a tad bit harder. The 30-year-old social media worker from Oklahoma went crazy over the last couple days with videos of him cruising through an AMC theater atop his homemade sandworm making the rounds on social media His TikTok video has gotten over three million views alone, which doesn't even account for the thousands more that it has racked up on other accounts. Myer had no idea his sandworm-riding would get so much attention but it was a positive experience as movie-goers appreciated the massive cinematic event that has become Dune: Part. The comments that stood out to him were the ones that said "cinema is back." I'll see comments like, "my husband saw this video and loves it."
Cinema is back.
The official Dune X/Twitter page reposted it, along with countless other accounts. He got tickets to see Dune: Part 2 with his brother, even though he wasn't able to see it on opening night. He says that he is looking forward to seeing the movie. I had the entire costume that I made for HowlerCon.
HowlerCon is a convention for his favorite book series, which is Red Rising by Pierce Brown. I had a costume for the con and I was sitting down and I said to myself, 'I have my Onewheel.' It wouldn't be that hard to ride a worm in the theater. I was dedicating my entire weekend to making this happen, and it was the idea that came from my brain.
I was so inspired by the idea that I was dedicating my entire weekend to making it happen. After seeing Dune: Part 2, Myer was even more determined to see more of it. Myer put himself on a deadline to get tickets for friends to see the sequel on Saturday night. He went to Target to get two massage hooks, and two of those kid collapsible tubes that Target sells, to create the shape of the actual worm. He grabbed fabric that looked like worm skin and mounted it to his Onewheel Pint. He says he had tons of hot glue and tons of tons. I'm trying to ride this thing because there are 20 minutes of trailers. People are watching me with their headlights on because the front half came undone and I couldn't do it.
Play begins.
Myer was determined to make it work for opening weekend despite his failed attempt at riding the sandworm. He went back to fix what went wrong and called in a friend to use his drone to shoot the videos. He called AMC to make sure it was okay for him to go in the lobby. The manager said that if you don't disturb any guests and don't film in any auditoriums, you're good.
When I point out that in one video, the bystanders are surprisingly unfazed despite the prophecy being fulfilled around them, Myer points out that he was at about his fifth take by that point, and the reactions were much more excited during his first and second laps around the lobby. Pulling up to the theater was a blast, because I was just weaving in and out of traffic. He said they lost their minds when he rode by and he had a video of one of them. I was like, "okay, I'm not crazy, people will think this is funny."
The next logical question is: what is Myer going to do with the sandworm that he made? He says it will most likely be hanging out in a storage building at the back of his house, although it will get at least one more use today when he suits up for an interview. If Dune Messiah is greenlit for the final part of the trilogy, I will bring it back out. Denis Villeneuve has said that he is already into the writing process for the next Dune, so hopefully Myer will get to mount the sandworm for another cinematic event. There is more information on Dune: Part 2, as well as why the biggest meme to come out of it so far is our 8/10 review. She likes to read fantasy novels or play D&Ds when she isn't writing or editing.