There is no question that Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of “Dune” is one of the most-anticipated 2020 movies for cinephiles worldwide. Not only is the source material, author Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel, in dire need of a solid movie adaptation (sadly, David Lynch’s version bombed back in 1984) but Villeneuve himself has become one of the most sought after directors in the industry after his back-to-back trifecta of “Sicario,” “Arrival,” and “Blade Runner 2049.”
Now,Vanity Fair has a first look at the new adaptation of “Dune,” with a newly released photo of the lead character, Paul Atreides, played by Timothée Chalamet.
The image has Paul walking on his home planet of Caladan, right before he moves to Arrakis and the action starts.
Interviewed by Vanity Fair, Chalamet gave more details on what to expect with Paul’s journey:
“The immediately appealing thing about Paul was the fact that in a story of such detail and scale and world-building, the protagonist is on an anti-hero’s-journey of sorts,” Chalamet said, adding, “He thinks he’s going to be sort of a young general studying his father and his leadership of a fighting force before he comes of age, hopefully a decade later, or something like that.”
Warner Brothers seem to have given Villeneuve carte-blanche to splatter whatever his art desires on the screen with this next movie. By all accounts, Villeneuve’s adaptation of Herbert’s “Dune” is the biggest risk of his career. As mentioned earlier, even Lynch failed miserably with his own film adaptation back in the 80s. And yet, I trust Villeneuve will do something very special with Herbert’s material. He has long been fascinated by the novel and what’s currently happening is very much a dream come true for him.
Josh Brolin was added to the cast of the upcoming adaptation today, which already includes Oscar Isaac, Timothee Chalamet, Javier Bardem, Dave Bautista, Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Rampling, and Stellan Skarsgard. Production had already begun last spring and ended earlier this year in Budapest and Jordan.
“Dune” is supposed to be released in theaters on December 18th. However, who knows if that date will stick since the COVID-19 pandemic is shaking up the entire industry at large and release dates have been shuffled all around because of it. It’ll all depend on when the public at large will be comfortable in being indoors, watching a movie in the dark with hundreds of other strangers, some of which will be coughing, with no sense of panic ensuing. That seems like a distant world away, but keep the faith, we all want this sort of normalcy to come back sooner rather than later, and upcoming films by Denis Villeneuve, Christopher Nolan, Wes Anderson, and Paul Verhoeven will hopefully get us all back to the cinema.