Will Denis Villeneuve's New Dune Adaptation Live Up to Expectations?

[DennisN]

The spice must flow.

I just heard that there will be a new movie adaptation of the classic Dune (1965) by Frank Herbert.
Article on Wikipedia: Dune (2020 film).

And another movie is planned, i.e. the two movies will cover the first book.
I don't think there is any trailer yet.
The director, Denis Villeneuve, is the one who did the two excellent movies Sicario and Arrival.

Dune is one of my absolute favorite science fiction novels, and it's on my top five list, so I very much look forward to this movie (and I also hope there will come a day when Foundation (1,2,3) reach the movie screen...)

But for now... the spice must flow.

Intro to Dune (1984):

 

[DennisN]

I just read in the Wikipedia article that Villeneuve refused to make only one movie as he felt it would not do justice to the quite complex story, and also that he is very aware that Dune is the main inspiration for the original Star Wars:

He [Villeneuve] stated that "I would not agree to make this adaptation of the book with one single movie" as Dune was "too complex" with "power in details" that a single film would fail to capture.

[...]

Villeneuve said of his vision for Dune that "Most of the main ideas of Star Wars are coming from Dune so it's going to be a challenge to [tackle] this. The ambition is to do the Star Wars movie I never saw. In a way, it's Star Wars for adults."

This is good, I think. He knows his stuff.

I also read on the page of a failed Dune adaptation project by Alejandro Jodorowsky in 1974 ca.
Jorodowsky had high ambitions, :

Jodorowsky planned to cast the Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, in what would have been his only speaking role as a film actor, in the role of Emperor Shaddam IV. Dalí agreed when Jodorowsky offered to pay him a fee of $100,000 per hour. He also planned to cast Orson Welles as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen; Welles only agreed when Jodorowsky offered to get his favourite gourmet chef to prepare his meals for him throughout the filming. [...]. The music would be composed by Pink Floyd and Magma.

(my boldings)

 

[etotheipi]

Some BTS photos. I like the aesthetic

 

[DennisN]

Some BTS photos. I like the aesthetic.

Thanks for posting, the photos look very nice!

 

[Dr Wu]

Wowed at having recently watched David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia for the first time, I hope this remake of Dune will be able to match (even surpass?) the astonishing portrayal of the desert, as depicted in the 1962 film.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Dune is such an epic and awesome series. I'm a little surprised they are going for the movie route. It could easily be the next Game of Thrones type series.

 

[DennisN]

It could easily be the next Game of Thrones type series.

Yes. Regarding tv series I forgot to say that there is a Foundation tv series in the pipeline, and here is a brand new teaser a friend of mine sent me yesterday: Foundation - Teaser (Apple TV+)

 

[etotheipi]

 

[DennisN]

Thanks for posting the trailer @etotheipi !
I was quite surprised to hear a cover of Pink Floyd's "Eclipse", but I think it worked well.

 

[strangerep]

Dune is such an epic and awesome series. I'm a little surprised they are going for the movie route. It could easily be the next Game of Thrones type series.

Nah. The Dune books don't have enough opportunities for gratuitous nudity.

[OMG, that 1984 Dune film was total rubbish.]

 

[profbuxton]

Have read all the dune series by F.Herbert. Wasnt impressed by the later books written after Herbert passed away. Have seen the first movies and the series with William Hurt and found them to very close to the story line in action and effects.
Have watched the trailer of the new movie and am NOT impressed at all. Just doesn't strike me as keeping to the story and images. Is that a normal knife he is carrying?. Its supposed to a worm tooth isn't it?
I can see why it would need more than one movie, its a big tale spanning a long time. Its also over the head of most moviegoers to understand if they haven't read the books.
Took me two reads (once when I was a teen and later as an adult,mostly) of the original Dune to grasp the whole concept and really enjoy it. Have a hard copy of the original trilogy and enjoy rereading it sometimes.
Doubt wether I will bother with the new movie, it wiil just spoil my mental picture of the whole story. I feel.

 

[DennisN]

Note: Don't watch this if you care about minor spoilers and/or character descriptions.
And if you already know and remember Dune, there's likely not so much to spoil.

Dune Cast Q&A with Stephen Colbert

 

[Pythagorean]

Dune is such an epic and awesome series. I'm a little surprised they are going for the movie route. It could easily be the next Game of Thrones type series.

Seriously. Somebody needs to make it to all the way to God Emperorer and Heretics already. Since James McAvoy basically single handedly salvaged the miniseries he should just return as Leto II and continue on.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

One of my hesitations is that one of the great attributes of the books are his thoughts and perceptions. That is a REALLY hard thing to produce on screen.

 

[Pythagorean]

One of my hesitations is that one of the great attributes of the books are his thoughts and perceptions. That is a REALLY hard thing to produce on screen.

Yeah, It requires a good actor that can convey a lot through facial expression but can also do narration good. I didn't care much for the Lynch/MacLachlan approach to that, but Lynch was out of his comfort zone over all on Dune, the storyline was probably too straightforward and linear for him :P Loved Lynch/Mclagchlan approach to Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks.

 

[Imager]

From Collider.com
"Denis Villeneueve‘s Dune off its December release date and will unveil the epic sci-fi movie on Oct. 1, 2021"

Full Article

 

[BillTre]

 

[strangerep]

I must not watch Dune on home cinema [...]

When/why did long epic films stop having intermissions?? It really annoyed me when I was trying to sit through LOTR with a bursting bladder (even though I "went" immediately before entering the theatre).

I wish cinemas would offer "seniors matinees" that do have an intermission.

 

[Bandersnatch]

It really annoyed me when I was trying to sit through LOTR with a bursting bladder (even though I "went" immediately before entering the theatre).

On a related note, etymonline is an online etymology dictionary (bear with me) that normally keeps its insightful linguistic archaeology quite dry and to the point. The entry for the word 'micturition', however, goes on a rather personal tangent:

micturition (n.)​

1725, "the need very badly to urinate," from Latin micturitum, from past participle of micturire "to desire to urinate," desiderative of mingere "to urinate," from PIE root *meigh- "to urinate." As during the final 20 minutes of a 4-hour film after drinking a 32-ounce Mountain Dew from the snack bar and the movie ends with a drawn-out farewell scene while Frodo is standing on the pier and wavelets lap audibly on the dock the whole time as if the director was a sadist set on compounding your torment. Also used, incorrectly, for "act of urinating."

 

[DennisN]

I've seen the movie now and I really enjoyed it. I could say more, but I don't want to since there are people here who probably haven't seen it.

I suggest we avoid spoilers in this thread, so:

Please don't put spoilers in this thread. Start a new thread if you want to discuss the movie.

 

[Bandersnatch]

Go ahead and start a new thread then. Spill your heart. Don't be a tease.
(I'd argue it's about as hard to spoil Dune on a SF-related forum as it is to spoil Hamlet elsewhere, but sure, let's protect the wee ones, the illiterates, and the uncultured )

 

[BillTre]

Saw it last night.
Music, acting, cinematography, were all really good.
Part one only goes till Paul finds his girl friend.
It was so good, can't see them not making the second half.
Waiting for my wife to get more trusting of other film goers before we'll be seeing it in a theater.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I just booked imax with my wife tomorrow. eeeeek! :)

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Certainly the best attempt to date. The movie still struggles to capture the internal perception and dialogue of Paul.

 

[BillTre]

I just read a nice review of both Dune and The Foundation by Paul Krugman of all people, in the NY Times.
He likes Dune a lot and thinks that The Foundation has "sold out" because it has to make adaptations not in the book to keep viewer interest.

He likes both books, but puts them into different periods Before Dune, the Foundation was a great accomplishment, but lacked in the usual elements that can propel a movie story.

Dune on the other hand, has many well developed layers concerned with ecology, politics, religion, etc. This he claims was a problem with David Lynch's version.

 

[Bandersnatch]

So, I thought this version of 'Troubled Teen Dreams of Kissing a Girl' was quite excellent.

 

[DennisN]

I started a new thread here for discussing the movie including spoilers:
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/dune-2021-movie-discussion-incl-spoilers.1008779/

 

[DennisN]

As an SF fan I was very happy to hear about this: after Dune, Denis Villeneuve will do Rendezvous With Rama (Arthur C. Clarke). It's also one of my favorite SF books. I think it's very cool and inspiring that such a talented director sets high goals and goes after classics in the SF genre.

Article: After Dune, Denis Villeneuve Will Rendezvous With Rama (Gizmodo)