Dune to be directed by Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049)

Bloody hell, I'm also a HUGE fan of Dune, it's probably in my top 5 books I've ever read - and (1) I don't give a monkey's that Liet is now female and (2) I'm really interested to see how it's going to work in the film

And talking about staying classy...

 

meh... Nothing surprises me anymore.. Just as long as they don't gender swap Shai Hulud.

 

This film is going to be a disaster. The promo shots look cheap as hell.

 

That was my thought too. Visually it looks bland and generic. I hope I'm wrong.

 

I wonder if it will better than the Lynch concoction.

 

I know nothing about Dune. What is it about making this character a woman that invalidates part of the plot of the story?

 

You beat me to your own punchline.

 

Yeah, people can bitch about Lynch's "Dune" (I love it) but it's probably in the top ten of all-time for Sci-Fi set and costume design. (Although jodorowsky's dune probably had something to do with that!)

 

One of my favorite things about that film was its design.

 

My son sent me this Vanity Fair link this morning. Every picture works for me.

Behold Dune: A New Look at Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and More

 

I agree, while it's a narrative mess, it's beautifully designed, though I would like to have seen more Giger in the overall look. If they were going to draw from Jodorowsky, I say go nuts.

[The film worlds of science fiction in general need more Giger, in my estimation]

These stills lack that weirdness, which I think is essential. Hopefully they're not really representative of the film's look.

 

The Blade Runner 2049 association was not quite enough to make me interested in this new Dune, but the casting of Rebecca Ferguson has me interested. She had a criminally tiny role in the last Men in Black film but was awesome in every moment.

 

Meh. I am not so concerned that a gender is switched so much as bringing more mystique and reverence to the Liet character...which from this new Vanity Fair picture shows promise.

 

I wish people would read the book , movies are just lazy entertainment (unlike books)

 

Love Lindsay's work. She did review the Dune book many years ago and she wasn't really into it at the time. I'm hoping she will revisit once the films have been completed.

 

I think the difference in tone is always a challenge, and an opportunity, for a filmmaker who is aware of the differences between his audience, and the time during which the author created his world. There are always those purists who insist the only wisdom exists in the narrative as the author wrote it, or even insist the beats and conventions as originally written, even if out-of-step today, are the "point" of the author's view. But their resistance to updating a storyline to make it palpable to a modern audience, is missing the point of mass communication; you don't make a profit targeting your films to satisfy only cranky old cloud-yellers.

(And of course, we are becoming more aware these days, about small voices from the cracks and crannies, who will complain about such bastardizations of inclusions in modern society, not to actually discuss the veracity of a cast member change, but really to gin-up controversy, hoping to make the project, the director or even the whole studio toxic by association, and making it toxic to side with them, for fear of tainting your own brand. Of course this is a totally different discussion for another place, only tangentially linked to this subject...hence the parentheses)

 

And here is Doctor Wellington Yueh, played by Chang Chen.

 

Was Dr. Yueh Asian in the book? I don't remember it ever being mentioned.

Or did they just assume he was Asian because of the name? I'm pretty sure ethnicity (other than planetary or the Fremen) is never really described in the Dune books, so to me that's not really important in casting decisions.

 

It was never implied, but I've always envisaged Yueh being Asian while reading. He may not have the drooping moustache and long hair, but he doesn't need to look like Fu Manchu or Ming the Merciless, now that I think about it. It's more of an updated look and I think the goatee looks great!

 

Somewhere I read that this will be released in two episodes.
I'm looking forward to it.

 

I will always love David Lynch’s Dune. It’s such a wonderful mess, and Paul will always be Kyle in my mind. I’m really looking forward to this version. I’m currently reading Dune. I thought I had read it before as a teen, but I don’t think so. I’m really enjoying it.

 

Hey, the new DUNE trailer is here!

 

I think that must be the Director's "trailer".

 

Have they finally decided when and how it will be released?