Denis Villeneuve Had Put Forward Two Conditions Before Making Dune

by Jenny Thomson Writer

Denis Villeneuve is arguably one of the most underrated filmmakers of this generation. His films are loved by fans and critics alike, and most of them could easily make it to the top 10 lists that several websites make. Films like Prisoners, Enemy, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and Sicario are films of the highest quality among all that have been made in the last decade. However, Villeneuve’s name is seldom taken alongside modern geniuses like David Fincher, Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino etc. Perhaps one of the reasons is his intention to make an artistic visual piece rather than making a fan-pleasing mainstream cinema.

However, with “Dune”, Villeneuve would look forward to attracting the attention of those who have more often than not overlooked his films in the past.

Villeneuve along with the cast of “Dune” appeared for an interview with Stephen Colbert amid their very hectic schedule as they plan to finish the film before their December release despite hindrance caused by the pandemic. In the interview, the director talked about “Dune” and the massive inspiration he got when he read Frank Herbert’s novel as a teenager.

Villeneuve spoke about the obsession he got while reading the book and in his immediate conclusion that the book has massive on-screen adaptation capabilities despite a general belief that has sustained over the years that book is “unadaptable.” For Villeneuve, “Dune” is “a powerful human story.”

He expounded the richness of the movie, which he said that he had tried to keep in the story. He said that with one interpretation, the story is a massive action-adventure story, but with another interpretation, it’s a story that touches upon various subliminal concepts and most importantly portrays something relevant with today’s socio-political culture. He said that his film would move people to take action, especially for today’s youth whose future is pretty much up in the air.

The critical thing drawn from the interview was his revelation that he put forward “two conditions” before agreeing to steer the wheel for Warner Bros. high budgeted venture. The first condition was his desire to split the film into two parts. As advocated by Kyle MacLachlan, the star of the failed 1984 film, “Dune” needs time to make space in the audience’s imagination or to make them wrap their heads around the essence and beauty of its very expansive story. Villeneuve understood this fact, and that’s why his first condition was to get a word of support to make two films for Dune.

In his words, the story is very “rich” and “complex”; he would need at least two movies to tell the story properly. However, Kyle MacLachlan said, in an interview with IndieWire about his new film “Tesla”, that he would have liked at least a “4-5” part film or even a TV series like Game of Thrones though he said that he was still “curious” about the Villeneuve’s effort.

The second condition of Villeneuve was his desire to shoot in an actual desert. He gave the example of Steven Spielberg’s film “Jaws” which Spielberg had shot in Martha’s Vineyard rather than shooting in a swimming pool. He expounded the idea further by saying that to create a high concept film; you need to create an actual environment that can itself stimulate the imagination of directors and actors apart from adding a realness to the visuals shown in the film.

In a previous interview, Villeneuve said though he didn’t hate the 1984 film by David Lynch, he was left a bit “unsatisfied.” He added that his vision of Frank Herbert’s novel would be a lot different as he thinks there is an opportunity to create a film out of “Dune” with different “sensibility.”

He also revealed his plan to expand the character arc of Lady Jessica (played by Rebecca Ferguson) which would comply with the demand of present times.

Warner Bros.’s Tentpole is expected to arrive on December the 18th, 2020 but their very recent decision to delay the release of Wonder Woman to December the 25th would certainly push the film towards 2021.

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Source: Denis Villeneuve Had Put Forward Two Conditions Before Making Dune