Forget the Spice! It’s the trailers that must flow as Warner Bros. has finally dropped the first preview for Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming feature film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune. Arguably the greatest sci-fi novel ever written, the prospect of successfully translating Dune to screen as a feature film (unlike David Lynch’s messy 1984 attempt) would be one that I would normally be dreading. However, in Villeneuve we have an unparalleled filmmaker at the moment whose genius work on the likes of Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, Sicario, Prisoners, and more have put him in a league of his own. If anybody could bring Herbert’s immensely complex world to life, it’s him.
Even such a talented filmmaker can’t be expected to do the impossible though, which is why Villeneuve is splitting up the messianic rise of Paul Atreides (played by Timothée Chalamet) into two parts. And now, following some early released pictures and brief teaser trailer yesterday that reminded us that “Fear is the mind killer”, we finally got our first proper look at how this hugely anticipated epic sci-fi duology will kick off… and it’s more than just a trailer!
Stephen Colbert led Villeneuve and the cast in an exclusive behind-the-scenes Q&A that gave us a great intro to the characters as well as showing off a bunch of footage. And some utterly hilarious burns from the cast! Check it out below!
A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, “Dune” tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who 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.
Besides for Chalamet, Dune boasts, quite frankly, a ridiculous cast. The star-studded ensemble consists of Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica Atreides, Oscar Issac as Duke Leto Atreides, Stellan Skarsgard as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Zendaya as Chani, Javier Bardem as Stilgar, Stephen Mckinley Henderson as Thufir Hawat, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Dr. Liet Kynes (changed from a man in the novel to a woman now), Dave Bautista as Glossu “Beast” Rabban, and Charlotte Rampling as Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam. It should be illegal to have that much talent on-screen at once.
There’s a lot more to unpack here. Obviously, being a Villeneuve movie, this looks gorgeous as hell. Well, except for Baron Harkonnen, of course. I do also love the implementation of the body shields and stillsuits. And damn that is one toothy worm! One thing I can’t quite work out from the footage though, is exactly where Villeneuve has chosen to split Herbert’s novel in two. Either way, I am super stoked for this!
There’s only one small problem. Last we heard Dune was scheduled to hit theatres on 18 December 2020, but the trailer was noticeably missing a release date. That tells me that Warner Bros. have not yet committed to releasing this year, unlike what they did with Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. Could Dune become a 2021 release?
Last Updated: September 9, 2020
Mr_Pops
September 9, 2020 at 19:22
I feel super conflicted about this movie. On the one hand I do love everything that Denis Villeneuve has done so far, but my love for Dune has sadly waned over the years. Reading it now its hard for me to look past the fact that I find the character work to be really weak. The world building is amazing, but it feels like characters in the books exist as plot devices rather than as real people. Also I find it harder and harder to see what makes Atreides good and Harkonnen bad. I’m really hoping that Villeneuve has taken a few liberties with the characters.
BradeLunner
September 9, 2020 at 20:55
I just finished the book last night, after years of hyping it to myself, and I really do feel the heart of it becomes kind of lost with the Duke and becomes a series of epic facts. It looks like Villeneuve is bringing that heart back
HvR
September 10, 2020 at 11:29
Can I presume that nobody in this thread read the other 7 books in the main storyline saga? Dune was never meant to be a standalone story.
That realization that Altreides (and later all the factions) is nothing more than a colonizing power in it for the money and power is very intentional.
Kervyn Cloete
September 10, 2020 at 08:21
I re-read the first novel about 2 months ago after not having read it since I was a teenager. I can actually get where you’re coming from. Certain characters only say or do certain things because the story requires them to, not because it’s natural.
My biggest issue with it though still remains that the final act of the book is so rushed. After such meticulous plotting and worldbuilding, we hop from the prep for the final battle to the battle to the aftermath so damn fast that it feels… unsatisfactory. Seeing as how Villeneuve is splitting the story into two parts, thinking about where the only logical place would be to end part 1, he’s going to have to flesh out that final act considerably for part 2. Which I’m very happy about.
MechMachine
September 10, 2020 at 10:12
That’s one of my biggest failures. I never could get into the books. I tried. I just failed a few times.
Mr_Pops
September 10, 2020 at 09:57
Yeah totally, that final act is such a let down. Everything happens way too quickly. There’s also the case of a certain event that I would think would be crushing to Paul that happens off-screen as it were, and sort of just feels shrugged off.
There’s a big lack of things to care about in the book. You’re experiencing the world through the eyes of a messiah character, and that’s never going to be all that relatable. Also it doesn’t help that because of his visions he knows everything that’s going to happen anyway. It really removes any tension from the book. He spends the whole book trying to prevent something from happening, and then at the end he kind of has this, “Oh well, screw it”, kind of moment.
Reading it as a teenager I was a lot more willing to fill in the blanks I guess. Reading it now I realize that I guess you’re supposed to be on the side of House Atreides, but really their actions don’t differentiate them from the Harkonnen in any way. They’re still self-serving. Their presence on Arrakis doesn’t actually make anything better for the people of the planet, and they actively use propaganda to keep the population in check. From the common man on the planets perspective, they’ve really got to seem just as bad as the Harkonnen. And maybe that’s what Herbert was trying to convey, that politics is never truly for the people, I don’t know. I do know that it makes it hard to care about the Atreides as a reader. There’s a need for some kind of bad character though so we’re given one of the most baffling cases of what supposedly makes someone evil. He’s really fat and really ugly and he’s gay. Oh and he rapes little boys, just in case, like many, you don’t actually find the previous list to be offensive in any way.
The politics is what I hope they get right in this movie. And as negative as I may seem in the paragraph above I do have hope. For all my complaints and the fact that the series does get a little crazy as it goes on, I do think that there really is something special in Dune. I don’t know if Frank Herbert ever realized the vision himself, but I’m hoping that in the hands of talented people, this movie could be something spectacular.
Kervyn Cloete
September 10, 2020 at 11:29
Well, in the case of the Baron, Villeneuve has said that he’s making major changes, because he feels that Herbert turned the character into a mustache-twirling evil cartoon.
MechMachine
September 10, 2020 at 10:12
That’s one of my biggest failures. I never could get into the books. I tried. I just failed a few times.
Mr_Pops
September 10, 2020 at 10:12
Sorry I’m pretty fresh of a recent read as well. I could talk about this stuff for ages.
HvR
September 10, 2020 at 11:29
Can I presume that nobody in this thread read the other 7 books in the main storyline saga? Dune was never meant to be a standalone story.
That realization that Altreides (and later all the factions) is nothing more than a colonizing power in it for the money and power is very intentional.
Kervyn Cloete
September 10, 2020 at 11:29
I have admittedly not read past Book 1 knowing how wacky it gets.
Son of Banana Jim
September 10, 2020 at 13:25
You know how people talk about Marvel’s cosmic comics being out of this world, and things starting to become really bizarre, the Dune books did that years before. I mean Leto’s (Paul’s son) apotheosis runs counter to his humanity. It’s amazing and tragic all in one.
Iskape
September 9, 2020 at 19:59
I am definitely looking forward to it. It deserves a killer movie!
RinceThis
September 9, 2020 at 20:42
Fuck star wars and that stupid baby Yoda, LET THIS BE! Also, the Great Gig in the Sky tune, you can’t do better. Marry me Villeneuve!
Alien Emperor Trevor
September 10, 2020 at 10:50
First see if he wants to be your lover, ginger spice.
RinceThis
September 10, 2020 at 11:49
https://media.giphy.com/media/CynSCqLq5dku4/giphy.gif
Alien Emperor Trevor
September 10, 2020 at 11:49
Are you not entertained?
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e5b92d444c16907d14eec3f24a8c68a49d2f1601e260f4e7ef04f89058acc291.jpg
RinceThis
September 10, 2020 at 12:32
HAHA! I actually really enjoyed this film. I know many didn’t, but sting was awesome!
Alessandro Barbosa
September 10, 2020 at 11:29
*Eclipse
RinceThis
September 10, 2020 at 11:49
Oops, you are absolutely correct! The fact I got the song name wrong from my favourite album just shows how much adrenalin this pumped me up on!
Son of Banana Jim
September 9, 2020 at 21:13
I really wish this will mean we finally get to see movies about the other books as well.
For as long as I’ve been alive, every single attempt at bringing Dune to the big or the small screen has ended with just the first (and parts of the second and third books) being captured. There are so many interesting things that happen in the later books. I really want to see some of those events captured and translated to film (I’m sure a few of you know what I’m talking about – shit gets real!!!)
HvR
September 10, 2020 at 04:30
Later books gets trippy AF though
Son of Banana Jim
September 10, 2020 at 13:25
https://media2.giphy.com/media/1RihQM96FYhIzRrAOd/giphy.gif
For the Emperor!
September 9, 2020 at 22:33
Looks pretty damn good!
CrAiGiSh
September 10, 2020 at 09:12
Doesn’t look to bad.
Alien Emperor Trevor
September 10, 2020 at 10:50
That was epic.