Denis Villeneuve shot both ‘Dune’ movies back-to-back, “without even an hour in between.” A few months back, he told THR “I physically need to recover for a couple of weeks,” and that his next project will depend on “whichever screenplay is completed first”.
Screenwriter Eric Roth (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) recently spoke about being hired to write a secret screenplay for Villeneuve. Roth had cryptically described it as a film about “space and time.” Here’s what he had to say …
I just wrote a movie for Denis Villeneuve… We’ll see what ends up happening with it, but it’s about space and time, and it’s very lonely. It’s certainly about eternity.
Many, including myself, wondered if it was Villeneuve’s long-gestating adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s “Rendezvous with Rama.” Villeneuve has been attached to ‘Rama’ since even before “Cleopatra” was announced.
I’m being told, via very credible sourcing, that it’s not ‘Rama.’ Rather, it’s an adaptation of Korean author Bo-Young Kim’s short story “I Am Waiting For You.” This doesn’t mean that ‘Rama’ isn’t happening, it’s just one of many projects Villeneuve is considering as his next directorial outing.
Described as “a love story set in the future” and taking place in the 2080s, “I’m Waiting For You” revolves around a man journeying through time and space in an increasingly desperate and unlikely attempt to reunite with his fiancée. However, small incidents wreak havoc on space and time, driving their wedding date further away.
Villeneuve had previously mentioned that he had “four projects on the table” as his possible next film. We already know about “Dune: Messiah,” “Rendezvous with Rama” and “Cleopatra,” and now we know what the fourth one is, “I’m Waiting For You.”
As for the recently announced “Nuclear War,” based on Annie Jacobsen‘s nonfiction book, that one is still in the very early stages of development and the plan is for Villeneuve to direct it after “Dune: Messiah,” which is only rumored to shoot in 2026.