The tools made available to a filmmaker have evolved considerably over the years. As much as directors want to film on location, or on magnificent sets, the cost of such a production can be prohibitive, especially when tools like the Volume (used heavily in the Star Wars universe) are at the ready. Some of the best sci-fi movies ever made have relied on these tools, and there’s nothing wrong with employing them. But then there are filmmakers like Denis Villeneuve, who’d much rather immerse himself and his crew in the vastness of a desert to capture the imagery that’s needed for a movie like Dune: Part 2. The extremely positive reviews have heralded the practicality of Villeneueve’s world building. And the director name drops none other than Steven Spielberg when explaining why he takes that route.
Granted, you have to experience – and financial success – to be able to demand location shots. But when Denis Villeneuve spoke with his producers at Legendary, he invoked a relative newcomer in the directorial field who fought for his beliefs, and ended up with a masterpiece. As Villeneuve told CinemaBlend in an exclusive interview:
It was difficult for (Steven Spielberg) to shoot Jaws on the ocean, but he DID Jaws and it was a fantastic movie! And it’s funny because I will say, when I said that I agree to to Dune, when we shook hands with Legendary, I said, ‘The only thing I am asking for is to go into the real desert. They didn’t shoot Jaws in a swimming pool.’ I feel that nature is at the center of the book. The relationships of humans with nature and the environment, the ecosystem. And I wanted to go in the real environment, to inspire myself. To the crew. To inspire the actors. And it had a tremendous impact. It would have been absolutely impossible to do this movie any other way.
We can all be thankful that Denis Villeneuve didn’t have to do his two Dune films “any other way,” as he phrases it, because the back-to-back efforts are being hailed as masterpieces, and have many anticipating a third chapter in the saga. We gave the film a perfect 5 stars in our official review, and the movie is crushing tools like Rotten Tomatoes and MetaCritic. Will that third Dune happen? As for now, we are getting teases, such as the casting of a major character for future stories, and suggestions of where this journey needs to go. If Dune: Part 2 can live up to the financial predictions, Dune: Messiah should be greenlight before March concludes.
Make sure you watch our full interviews with the Dune: Part 2 cast:
And grab tickets to see Dune: Part 2 on the largest screen possible.
