If you had n’t already done it afterArrivalor Sicario orBlade Runner 2049 , we think it ’s sentence to officially declare thatDenis Villeneuve is one of the bestfilmmakers working today . He cements that and more with Dune : Part Two , athrilling , engage ending toVilleneuve ’s vision of adapting Frank Herbert ’s Dune . One that has been on his head for 10 , and in the works for pretty long too .
Few filmmakers would ’ve had the gut to say “ This story is two motion picture ” and then convinced a studio to agree to that . But Villeneuve did , leave in a Part One that win six Oscars and now a Part Two that ’s quick to bestow the box office back .
io9 speak to the filmmaker recently and we talked about all of that and more : whether he ever regretted carve up the taradiddle into two small-arm , how he approached the filmmaking differently this time around , the responsibility of bringing the sandworms to the CRT screen , craft Timothée Chalamet ’s carrying out as Paul Atreides , and of grade , Lego . Plus , if you were curious about what the heck is up with those little sound blips before the studio logo , he excuse .
Image: Warner Bros.
study our interview with Villeneuve below , and get back Thursday for our spoiler give-and-take .
This audience was edited for length and pellucidity .
Germain Lussier , io9 : Congratulations . The movie is so good , and I expected nothing less having seen the first one and everything else you ’ve done . But watch this , I wonder , what would have happen if the first one did n’t work ? Would this have been made ? Did you ever even contemplate that this would n’t get made ?
Image: Warner Bros.
Denis Villeneuve : The thought take place to me as I was dart Part One when I was in the desert . I think of saying to myself , “ relish the moment , because you might not come back here with those characters . ” It could have happened . It was part of the play I was doing [ with the adaptation ] . But I knew once the picture show was finished that Legendary was absolutely pleased and happy with the movie . And I got the assurance very apace , in fact , that there would be a Part Two no matter what happened . But allow ’s say that as I was scoot , I was remembering that I had to be at peace treaty that [ this ] could be it .
io9 : Okay . Well , I ’m glad that we did n’t have to deal with that . Let ’s talk about the film social system which I feel very interesting . Obviously , the movie is very much about Paul ’s journey , and we see an unbelievable discharge there . But after the quick little thing at the beginning , we pass plausibly about an hour with Paul in the desert without cut away . How did you decide on that and settle on the residual of when to tailor over to the Harkonnen story , as fight back to a more traditional cross - cutting ?
Villeneuve : Yeah . The estimation was really to make the movie as immersive as possible and at the beginning , you have to really conceive that Paul is taking roots into the Fremen culture and that he gained their trust . And I cerebrate it was a much more of a cinematic way to approach it , to make it big blocks like that , instead of doing more like exotic moments circulate around in the screenplay . I want to [ make certain ] the audience is being plunge , like Paul in the film , in the Fremen finish and to feel the first part of his arc . It felt stronger this way .
Image: Warner Bros.
io9 : And when did you make that decision ? Was it during the writing or during the editing ?
Villeneuve : Both write and redaction .
io9 : Got it . I love that both film have this unearthly niggling mo before the studio logotype of some kind of Dune words statement . Is that something you have to okay with the studio ? Because in the end it ’s their movie and you ’re lay your mark before their logo . Was there any pushback and what was your thinking in doing that ?
Villeneuve : The first time in Part One , the truth is that as we were doing healthy blueprint and explicate estimate for sound , we came up with this terminology that was developed by Hans Zimmer that I dead adore . And there was this idea of putting a financial statement in good order before the logotype to own the space . And perhaps it was a reaction at that time , an self-important reaction by me , but I did n’t get any pushback . Everybody enjoy the idea . And I love it when you watch a picture and it ’s not a slow - down descent , it ’s an abrupt start . You put away the parking mountain and your concern about dinner party . [ Slap randomness ] Right out , it ’s like , “ Okay , guys , listen . ” A turn like in theater when you have the gravy at the start to say to the audience , “ Okay , quiet down , we pop right now . ” I have sex that .
io9 : Yeah . it ’s wonderful . Now , I have n’t register the book in a few years but watching the picture , it seemed as if you importantly grouse up Chani ’s character for this fib . It work very well , but I ’m curious about how you came to that decision .
Villeneuve : It ’s very important . And the thing is that when Frank Herbert wrote Dune , he was disappointed how people perceived the book . He did n’t require to make a celebration of a hero , he want the Good Book to be more of a warning against charismatic build , against messianic design . To correct that way of pick up thing , he wrote Dune Messiah to make certain that people understood his initial intention . Me , I had the welfare of have it away that . I had the welfare of having read Dune Messiah . So I attempt to make this adaptation closer to Frank Herbert ’s early ideas , his initial intention — and for that , I transubstantiate Chani ’s eccentric a minuscule bit . apply her more agenda and dimension and making her a much more interesting , in my opinion , cinematic eccentric .
io9 : Here ’s something kind of giddy . I loved hear sandworms being ridden in the movie but to do that necessitate a thumper . And those thumpers seemingly disappear once the worm arrives . How much do you do it about thumper production or logistics in this world ? How many do they have ? Where do they keep them ? Do they bestow multiples with them ? How much have you call up about this ?
Villeneuve : Yeah , it ’s a matter you demand yourself . Is there something that they can find back there out of the digestive system of the worm ? … In Part One we ’re trying to avoid the sandworms as much as potential . In Part Two , you see that the Fremen comprehend this beast and practice them as a agency of journey in the desert . I thought it was super poetic and I absolutely loved it . But yeah , it raises a question . I ’m indisputable the Fremen suppose about that . I ’m sure that there ’s a way to recycle because it ’s a finish that is all about recycle . It ’s a bit like people living in space . It ’s an environment that ’s so harsh and they are very canny people . So there ’s a manner of reuse those thumpers to notice them back . We should ask a Fremen .
io9 : Yeah , maybe the excrement somewhere , right ?
Villeneuve : I suspect . [ Laughs ]
io9 : As a fan of the books , I was overly delirious for two scenes in particular : Paul show down at the end of the film , and the first meter he rides a sandworm . Were those two scenes that jumped out to you as well ? I show a trivial bit in the insistency notes you spent some additional prison term figure out the sandworm stuff , but can you talk a small bit about your preparation for those view , both as a fan , and as a filmmaker ?
Villeneuve : When you bring sandriding to the screen , it ’s a responsibility . I want it to look existent , edgy , dangerous , cool . I want to have a kind of feeling of motorbike racing to it and I want it to look as real as possible . So first of all , I had to figure out myself the technique to get on the worm . What would be the approach ? How an experienced Fremen will do it . How Paul will do it because he , of path , is a bit clumsy at the starting time . So I had to figure out that , and then envision out how I will approach it [ as a filmmaker ] . And I remember my first meeting with my crew where I explicate to them the Freman technique , and then how we ’ll bring that to world . And there was a big quiet [ laughs ] because it was a number ambitious and it postulate a mountain of time to do that . It required weeks of R&D and then weeks of shoot to do that lilliputian sequence . It required a wonderful amount of human effort . But I will not go into the detail because I do n’t like to speak about the magic tricks . It ’s better for the people to enjoy . And then we ’ll talk it once they have seen it .
io9 : I was so impressed by everybody in this movie . The cast is incredible , Timothée in particular . Like , if you took a picture of him in that last scene and liken it to the first vista , it ’s just an incredible arc . He ’s terrifying at the end . What was it like working with him to ensure that that performance is tracked throughout every scene in the plastic film ?
Villeneuve : That ’s my job as a film director . To check that that all the pulse , specifically for the main character , will be convey through it so it ’s something that — I do n’t know how to reply aright . It ’s my chief business to check that each character will have their discharge completed and that I will pay off care to every detail . Specifically with Timothée , he was really prepared for that because he knew what was come for Part Two . And he was really emotional about that because in Part One he ’s more a victim of the events . He ’s an old teenager that has no power , that [ has ] lost everything and is lost in the desert . In Part Two he becomes a man and he wants to avenge his beginner . So it ’s more of an natural process figure and it ’s where we really can see how magnetic Timothée can be and hefty and how Shakespearean an worker he is . And I love that . I kept him boil . I maintain the pedigree boiling until it was ready to open . But it was a beautiful journeying with Timothée .
io9 : Awesome . Now , again , this is little turn silly , but I was very activated that Dune finally get a Lego hardening — and one of your films in the end get a Lego hardening . I do n’t live if you are conversant with it or if you ’ve seen it , but I want to know if you had seen it and what your reaction was to it .
Villeneuve : I ’ll be honest with you . in all likelihood I ’m making movies because first I was a hard-core Lego player . I ’m from that first multiplication where it was just brick , good ? I went to a lot of places with those Lego . starship , boats or whatever . And when I pick up that Lego was doing an Ornithopter , I was like , “ Wow , that blew my psyche . ” And then they institutionalize me a content say that it was finish and it will be ready for the opening of the picture show . I say , “ What are you utter about ? It ’s not quick for Christmas ? ”
io9 : Exactly !
Villeneuve : And they say “ No , Mr. Villenuve . You sympathize , there is a scheme and it ’ll be ready for 2024 . ” I was super disappointed because my kids and I [ love Lego ] and then at Christmas I got a box seat and they ’d transport me a paradigm .
io9 : Oh wow .
Villeneuve : And I would say I had a blast doing the Ornithopter during Christmas prison term . It ’s awing .
Also amazing ? sand dune : Part Two , which is in theaters this weekend . Check out our audience withco - stars Dave BautistaandStellan Skarsgård .
require more io9 intelligence ? check out out when to expect the latestMarvel , Star Wars , andStar Trekreleases , what ’s next for theDC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to bang about the future ofDoctor Who .
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