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Denis Villenueve to direct Dune


Mark Antony

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Zendaya has already said she's not in the film very much, which makes sense given the split of the book.

Stilgar and Idaho have a lot of interactions off page in the first act of the book, when Idaho is off trying to get the Fremen as allies. I suspect that will be beefed up to give more backstory and context for Stilgar as well as maybe a few more action scenes, as well as more screen time for Momoa (who is a big box office draw, regardless of your view of him for this part )

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11 minutes ago, Kalibear said:

I think that you could make the final third of the book pretty big as far as a movie goes. The first movie is a lot of setup; the second part is a LOT of action. 

I agree, I think you can expand the last third of the book into a full movie, especially if they are holding off on Feyd (and Shaddam?).

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paul's prescient visions can cover much of the fremen material from the trailer.

 

screen time for Momoa

that was one of the problems with lynch's version--hiring someone like richard jordan to have a couple largely forgettable scenes before getting killed casually and prematurely by novel chronology with an unauthorized drillbit bullet of all things. the death matters in  the novel--not so much in the first cinema version.  the new version could put the camera through his perspective, rather than only when paul's point of view is on him. it would give the subsequent sacrifice some weight.

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53 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

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.

That doesn't make a ton of sense as a movie structure though. You'd have this huge, cinematic set piece, the Harkonnen/Sardaukar invasion of Arrakis, with all the scenes related to it. And then, what, a 20-30 minute epilogue of Paul and Jessica getting to know the Fremen? That feels really off, pacing-wise. A big climax followed by a short denouement is more standard for a big blockbuster.

And I fully expect the invasion to be a big, blown out 40-ish minute thing (including wrap-up stuff like Leto's poison pill attempt).

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14 hours 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.

Way, way, way more. Dune by itself has comfortably sold twice as many copies today as ASoIaF had in total in 2011.

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    • 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.

     

I mean, Rebecca Ferguson is not exactly hideous. We can assume she's just not dressed to impress all the time in the film. There are shots of the dinner scene of her wearing a red dress not dissimilar to the one in the photo, and another of her in an elaborate gold ceremonial costume when they arrive on Arrakis (you can see her briefly in it in the trailer).

The eyes have always been an issue. In the Lynch film they tried the contacts but it didn't work very well, the actors couldn't see or emote properly so they decided to fix it in post which sort of worked (limited by 1984 tech).

This if the second worm they see (after the one that eats the harvester). They fly from Arrakeen, cross the Shield Wall and crash on rocky outcroppings, still very close to the settled region in the north. Only relatively small worms travel this far north. They don't meet the really huge, 400m monsters until Paul goes into the deep desert to learn to ride.

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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

Given how fans still fume over Herbert Jnr. and Anderson's "exaggerations" about the "big box of detailed notes" left behind by Frank Herbert (i.e. they made most of it up), that would be entertaining.

I don't think it's realistic though. If they get that far it'll probably be through a spinoff TV show rather than films, and they'd have to change so much about them I don't think it'll make much odds. The Honoured Matres overpowering enemies by sexing them to death is not going to be a thing on screen.

 

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1 hour ago, Fez said:

That doesn't make a ton of sense as a movie structure though. You'd have this huge, cinematic set piece, the Harkonnen/Sardaukar invasion of Arrakis, with all the scenes related to it. And then, what, a 20-30 minute epilogue of Paul and Jessica getting to know the Fremen? That feels really off, pacing-wise. A big climax followed by a short denouement is more standard for a big blockbuster.


No more off than starting the second film with a 20-30 minute sequence directly connected to the finale of the first, them skipping a massive chunk of time. Especially when you take into account emotional buildup etc, the decisions about Stilgar and things like that will carry more weight in film 2 if the setup has been made in film 1.

There was never going to be a way to adapt Dune as a standard big blockbuster and do it justice. Hell, that's why they hired Denis Villeneuve.

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13 minutes ago, polishgenius said:


No more off than starting the second film with a 20-30 minute sequence directly connected to the finale of the first, them skipping a massive chunk of time. Especially when you take into account emotional buildup etc, the decisions about Stilgar and things like that will carry more weight in film 2 if the setup has been made in film 1.

There was never going to be a way to adapt Dune as a standard big blockbuster and do it justice. Hell, that's why they hired Denis Villeneuve.

The Lynch movie has a big problem with this as well. It takes them 90 minutes to have Paul and Jessica meet the Fremen and then 40 minutes to blast through the rest of the story. The entire rest of the film is basically a plot summary; the amount of voice-over work from the characters to explain just what the fuck is going on goes through the roof.

The novel also seriously lowballs the second part of the narrative as well. IIRC, during the jump between sections Frank Herbert basically says, "Well, two years went by, during which some serious shit went down y'all."

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51 minutes ago, Vaughn said:

Follow up to my earlier post - I meant to include that the Idaho/Stilgar side plot (if they did it) would also give more screen time to Bardem, who otherwise would only have a Zendaya level of involvement in the first movie.

Stilgar has a bit more than that in the book - he actually meets with Leto and Paul and others early on. I can see him having more. 

It's interesting how on the reread I'm doing I notice how much they short Jessica's role. She's absolutely huge in most of the story, especially early on, and she's almost entirely cut from the movie beyond her kind of freaking out a bit. 

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9 minutes ago, Werthead said:

 

The novel also seriously lowballs the second part of the narrative as well. IIRC, during the jump between sections Frank Herbert basically says, "Well, two years went by, during which some serious shit went down y'all."

 


It lowballs quite a lot of what's actually in it too. Like, the actual assault by the Fremen on the Emperor is barely shown at all when on film it's probably gonna be a 40-minute setpiece, and Herbert barely shows us any actual worm riding once the training scene is over, which I also imagine will change some.

The book is very, very focused on dialogue and internal thoughts. Even motion and action are usually described in far more detail when characters are conversing than when they are not (eg the dinner scene where motion and position are paid huge attention). And while I hope those are given the space they need (the thoughts will be tricky but again probably why they hired Villeneuve) including the actual action- and not just action but motion and visual scene-setting in general- are gonna change the pacing of the novel all on their own.

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39 minutes ago, polishgenius said:


No more off than starting the second film with a 20-30 minute sequence directly connected to the finale of the first, them skipping a massive chunk of time. Especially when you take into account emotional buildup etc, the decisions about Stilgar and things like that will carry more weight in film 2 if the setup has been made in film 1.

There was never going to be a way to adapt Dune as a standard big blockbuster and do it justice. Hell, that's why they hired Denis Villeneuve.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's not a two year gap; because I agree with you (though I also thought it was a flaw in the book to have a gap like that). But more of a multiple month gap instead. Have spice production falling apart under Rabban almost immediately; and have the Fremen be closer to being ready for war already. Paul just gives them the push they need. 

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I expect the 2nd movie will have more details on Paul's guerrilla warfare against the Harkonnen, and if they follow the story as closely as possible, this will give more time for the relationship with Chani, the birth of their first son, as well as Alia's birth and growth. The movie can do a better job than the book at establishing the Fedaykin and other aspects of Fremen society.

I think the 1st movie will end with an ominous vision of the future involving the coming crusade/jihad.

The only thing about Feyd's absence is that the Baron will have to go about explaining his plan for Arrakis differently.

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12 hours ago, Werthead said:
  •  

I mean, Rebecca Ferguson is not exactly hideous. We can assume she's just not dressed to impress all the time in the film. There are shots of the dinner scene of her wearing a red dress not dissimilar to the one in the photo, and another of her in an elaborate gold ceremonial costume when they arrive on Arrakis (you can see her briefly in it in the trailer).

The eyes have always been an issue. In the Lynch film they tried the contacts but it didn't work very well, the actors couldn't see or emote properly so they decided to fix it in post which sort of worked (limited by 1984 tech).

I just wanna clarify that I never said or thought that Rebecca Ferguson is hideous. :)

Yeah, I feel like the eye thing isn't creepy enough. In the books, they are "blue" but a dark, dark blue. So dark that indoors they look almost black. Not the glowy light blue kind.

Hmm, I was trying to think of what my favorite bit in Dune is but these are all internal thoughts and background stuff like the Mentats. I'll be satisfied as long ad the movie isn't a yawnfest. 

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The trepidation that people have --I think-- is that some are worried that this might be like another Robocop or Total Recall... That's what I hear from friends anyway.... the difference being, Robocop and Total Recall did not require revisions... they weren't aht old, and the originals were not at all disappointing.... flawed, sure, but overall looked upon fondly by sci fi fans

Dune really does need to be redone. The original did not do the source material justice... I think the concern should be whether this will be more like The Thing 82' --which has become a classic-- or Hellboy, which wasn't a bad idea as much as it was terrible execution... 

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1 hour ago, Martini Sigil said:

The trepidation that people have --I think-- is that some are worried that this might be like another Robocop or Total Recall... That's what I hear from friends anyway.... the difference being, Robocop and Total Recall did not require revisions... they weren't aht old, and the originals were not at all disappointing.... flawed, sure, but overall looked upon fondly by sci fi fans

Dune really does need to be redone. The original did not do the source material justice... I think the concern should be whether this will be more like The Thing 82' --which has become a classic-- or Hellboy, which wasn't a bad idea as much as it was terrible execution... 

What? People think that Villeneuve will produce a cheap and lifeless remake of a popular 80s movie? Pretty sure Lynch's Dune doesn't even have a place among popular 80s-90s SF action movies. I get annoyed when book adaptations are treated as remakes of each other, instead of being considered alternate visions of the original material. (Same with versions of real life events, like the sinking of the Titanic)

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6 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

I hope the weirding way will not be guys with the bottom piece of Vader's mask shouting at things.

Its been a while since I read the book (actually grabbed it off my shelf last night and started again), but wasn't it a form of martial arts with all the extra bene gesserit training of muscle and nerve control?

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