Denis Villenueve to direct Dune

[Ran]

My guess:  highly dubious of it going further than Dune part 2. It will underperform Paramount's expectations and Villeneuve will want to move on, and both parties can save face by citing the bad start with the pandemic.

Pretty clear already that the TV side of the franchising has become a mess with the showrunner (and co-writer of the film) stepping down, and I suspect that, too, will limp along for two or three seasons before HBO Max cuts it. 

The fact that the 2nd part wasn't filmed as part of the production, and that it isn't even formally announced, shows Paramount was being cautious about it even before the pandemic. Even more reason to be cautious now.

We'll see how things shape up next year.

 

[Vaughn]

I think this movie will be great, but I think it's going to get stuck in the Kelvin Trek movies zone where the box office makes it hard to get the studio to green light more, in spite of cast enthusiasm and quality.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

The “Children of Dune” miniseries on SyFy was better than their “Dune” miniseries.  That said I’m not sure I want the rest of the series (only Frank Herbert’s books) put on film.

[sologdin]

GED as cinema would be cool, provided leto is not done up too silly.  how many times does momoa get killed on screen in that one?  The problem with heretics and chapterhouse is not the content, which would film well, but the finale.

[Bael's Bastard]

IMO they end perfectly well. He could have added to it, or left it where it was. The last two books essentially only linger on the last remnants of the old empire to watch it die once and for all. Leto's goal for humanity has already been accomplished when the 5th book opens. The surviving characters at the end of book 6 do what most of the rest of humanity has already done, which is scatter. It's not the end of their stories, but the end of that part of their stories. They are good stories though, IMO. I might go so far as to say they would probably make a better adaptation at this time than most if not all the other books.

[sologdin]

if they make six and seven lengthy features to get through chapterhouse, the finale will not go unmade, and that finale may well be based on hunters and sandworms; the authors' note to the former reveals that the concluding volumes are based on a secret document found in a secret box of the father, exactly like leto II's secret diary, stolen by his descendent siona and used to assassinate him. it will accordingly not end well.

[Gigei]

I just saw the trailer. Looks great. I'm not sure how a non-Dune reader would view it but I am satisfied with the aesthetics of the trailer.

• I'm not into the new Lady Jessica. My headcannon has always been her being a super hot red-headed MILF type while the trailer has Rebecca Ferguson dressed up more as a nun type. Hmm. That's just a minor thing though.
• Stillsuits looked okay.
• Disappointed by the Eyes of Ibad not being all blue.
• I thought the worms are bigger than that.
• I've totally forgotten what spice/melange actually looks like, lol. I should reread Dune before the movie comes out.

[Vaughn]

In the book, Jessica is repeatedly described as having bronze hair and being thin but I firmly believe in casting a good actor for a part vs. matching the book description. Lady Fenring was more the va-va-voom BG character I think.

[polishgenius]

2 hours ago, Gigei said:

• I thought the worms are bigger than that.

 

 

They can be but not all of them are. I'm not sure I recognise that specific scene (possibly a new scene to give us a look at an actual worm in part one because in the book if I recall correctly, beyond the one we don't see that eats the spice factory all the worms are in the second half) but they do vary.

[Kalbear]

2 hours ago, Gigei said:

I just saw the trailer. Looks great. I'm not sure how a non-Dune reader would view it but I am satisfied with the aesthetics of the trailer.

• I'm not into the new Lady Jessica. My headcannon has always been her being a super hot red-headed MILF type while the trailer has Rebecca Ferguson dressed up more as a nun type. Hmm. That's just a minor thing though.

It's...well, it's kind of all of that depending. They're supposed to be chaste, and also super hot, and also super unobtainable, and also really approachable. Alia describes it like this:

"The Reverend Mother must combine the seductive wiles of a courtesan with the untouchable majesty of a virgin goddess, holding these attributes in tension so long as the powers of her youth endure. For when youth and beauty have gone, she will find that the place-between, once occupied by tension, has become a wellspring of cunning and resourcefulness."

That said, they've said they're updating Jessica's part a bit to make her more of a warrior than she is in the books. In a lot of ways I hope they do it just enough, because Jessica is a fucking bad ass in the novels and is kind of the main driver of the entire plot, and should get center stage alongside Paul. 

[Fez]

It is just the first half of the book, it seems like they want a franchise (or at least one sequel), and they've got Oscar Issac. I wonder to what extent the movie "Ned Stark-s" Duke Leto and has him be the main character until his "twist" death at the end? It could be effective; how many people alive today have read Dune, versus how many had read ASOIAF in 2011?

Based on the first trailer it doesn't seem like that's the direction they're going in; but trailer studios usually don't have much contact with the actual filmmakers. Also, Oscar Issac really is great, and Duke Leto isn't that much of a presence in the book. IIRC, there's only two memorable scenes, saving the spice harvester crew and meeting Yueh during the attack; everything else is just minor expository stuff.

[Gigei]

8 hours ago, polishgenius said:

They can be but not all of them are. I'm not sure I recognise that specific scene (possibly a new scene to give us a look at an actual worm in part one because in the book if I recall correctly, beyond the one we don't see that eats the spice factory all the worms are in the second half) but they do vary.

I guess it could be more of a baby worm.

8 hours ago, Kalibear said:

It's...well, it's kind of all of that depending. They're supposed to be chaste, and also super hot, and also super unobtainable, and also really approachable. Alia describes it like this:

"The Reverend Mother must combine the seductive wiles of a courtesan with the untouchable majesty of a virgin goddess, holding these attributes in tension so long as the powers of her youth endure. For when youth and beauty have gone, she will find that the place-between, once occupied by tension, has become a wellspring of cunning and resourcefulness."

That said, they've said they're updating Jessica's part a bit to make her more of a warrior than she is in the books. In a lot of ways I hope they do it just enough, because Jessica is a fucking bad ass in the novels and is kind of the main driver of the entire plot, and should get center stage alongside Paul. 

I know. As I said, it's my headcanon. It's a minor thing. The important thing is that they make Jessica and the Bene Gesserit believable as sexy space witches. I feel that the trailer leans too much into the nun part but it's only a trailer.

A warrior Jessica? Well, there's no reason why she couldn't be a warrior, I guess. That's pretty canon for Bene Gesserit, afaik.

[Bael's Bastard]

1 hour ago, Fez said:

It is just the first half of the book, it seems like they want a franchise (or at least one sequel), and they've got Oscar Issac. I wonder to what extent the movie "Ned Stark-s" Duke Leto and has him be the main character until his "twist" death at the end? It could be effective; how many people alive today have read Dune, versus how many had read ASOIAF in 2011?

Based on the first trailer it doesn't seem like that's the direction they're going in; but trailer studios usually don't have much contact with the actual filmmakers. Also, Oscar Issac really is great, and Duke Leto isn't that much of a presence in the book. IIRC, there's only two memorable scenes, saving the spice harvester crew and meeting Yueh during the attack; everything else is just minor expository stuff.

He's a major character. He comes up with the entire strategy of winning over the Fremen and using them as their version of the Sardaukar, which Paul and Jessica use to survive, and then which Paul uses to conquer the empire.

[sologdin]

the seductive wiles of a courtesan with the untouchable majesty of a virgin goddess, 

yeah, they can't overdo it now in either direction, if they want to do sheeana and the honored matres later.

until his "twist" death at the end? 

it's about halfway through the novel, ain't it?

[Fez]

32 minutes ago, sologdin said:

the seductive wiles of a courtesan with the untouchable majesty of a virgin goddess, 

yeah, they can't overdo it now in either direction, if they want to do sheeana and the honored matres later.

until his "twist" death at the end? 

it's about halfway through the novel, ain't it?

Yeah, but the movie is only covering half the novel. We don't know exactly where it will end, but I figure the invasion, Leto's death, and Paul and Jessicia being taken in by the Fremen makes a pretty good stopping point.

[The Dragon Demands]

On 9/12/2020 at 7:36 AM, Ran said:

My guess:  highly dubious of it going further than Dune part 2. It will underperform Paramount's expectations and Villeneuve will want to move on, and both parties can save face by citing the bad start with the pandemic.

Pretty clear already that the TV side of the franchising has become a mess with the showrunner (and co-writer of the film) stepping down, and I suspect that, too, will limp along for two or three seasons before HBO Max cuts it. 

The fact that the 2nd part wasn't filmed as part of the production, and that it isn't even formally announced, shows Paramount was being cautious about it even before the pandemic. Even more reason to be cautious now.

We'll see how things shape up next year.

 

I have faith in the eternal Emperor.

[sologdin]

makes a pretty good stopping point.

right.  was agreeing. if they go much farther than that, by contrast, what's left for the second installment? follow the MCU model of nasty cliffhanger to mark the point of differentiation between installments.

[Kalbear]

Given that we have a lot of Chani and Stilgar in the trailer and in the press, I think it'll go longer than just the "Paul meets the Fremen" part. I suspect he'll have a lot of his scenes with them and joining them and uniting them.

[polishgenius]

There's a two-year time jump in the books, I'd be amazed if that wasn't where they left the story here. It's a little while after they join the Fremen, enough time for Stil and Chani to play a decent part, but most of the film will be without them except prophecy dreams.

[Bael's Bastard]

7 minutes ago, Kalibear said:

Given that we have a lot of Chani and Stilgar in the trailer and in the press, I think it'll go longer than just the "Paul meets the Fremen" part. I suspect he'll have a lot of his scenes with them and joining them and uniting them.

I doubt Paul and Jessica's scenes will go far, if at all, beyond Jessica and Paul first running into Stilgar and Chani in Tuono Basin, before they all head to Sietch Tabr. Even that is about two thirds of the way through the book. I'm not sure Chani is going to be in this one much, but I suspect we'll see more of Duncan's time with the Fremen, so perhaps we'll see a bit more of Stilgar and Chani there?