Director Denis Villeneuve is beginning to set his sights on hisDuneremake based off of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel. TheBlade Runner 2049director is setting his bar pretty high as far as what he wants the project to be. Villeneuve has his eyes set on an “adult” version ofStar Wars, which is an interesting statement that we’ll delve into a little later. In addition, Denis Villeneuve says that he wants to make theStar Warsmovie that he was never able to see on the big screen. These are some pretty heavy aspirations to reach for, especially considering the bad luck thatDunehas had on the big screen.
In a new interview with Fandom,Denis Villeneuvespoke about his ideas for hisDuneremake. In addition to the comments stated above, theFrench-Canadian directoralso mentioned that some of the ideas forStar Warscame fromDune, which is technically true, just not the 1984 David Lynch version. He had this to say.
“Most of the main ideas ofStar Warsare coming fromDuneso it’s going to be a challenge to (tackle) this. Theambitionis to do the Star Wars movie I never saw. In a way, it’sStar Warsfor adults. We’ll see.”
Alejandro Jodorowsky tried to makeDunein the mid 1970s, but the project wasn’t able to get off of the ground despite the intense work that had gone into the pre-production stage. There’s a documentary from 2013 covering his efforts. Jodorowsky’s attempt is also said to have influencedStar Wars,Alien, andBlade Runner. However, Villenueve will not be looking to Jodorowsky for inspiration. The director thinks it would be too arrogant to try and make the movie that Alejandro Jodorowsky set out to make, noting that he’s always wanted to meet him. He explains.
“Because Jodorowsky is a very unique visionary. He has a very strong, unique vision. I am a total different human being. It would be very presumptuous and arrogant for me to try. I would love to talk to him. I’ve wanted to meet him for a long time. I think he’s a fantastic filmmaker and I would have loved to see hisDune. I think it would be a very singular Jodorowsky movie. Will it have been the vision I have forDune? Very far away. I mean, I am sure because he is so unique.”
Dunefirst hit the big screen in 1984 under the direction of David Lynch, which has been called deeply flawed and was a target for critics upon its release. Lynch’s movie suffers from numerous cuts and recuts to the final edit, which clocks in at 2 hours and 17 minutes. So instead of showing the story, it’stelling the story, relying on a flurry of voiceover and breathy voiceover. It’s really, really hard to make it through the whole thing. However, it looks pretty cool.
We’ll just have to wait and see what Denis Villeneuve has cooked up for hisDuneremake. David Lynch famously made the anti-Star Warsand now Villeneuve wants to make the adult version ofStar Warsor whatever that means. Let’s just hope it does better at the box office thanBlade Runner 2049. You can check out the entire interview with Denis Villeneuve viaFandom.
