Denis Villeneuve: ‘Movies Have Been Corrupted by Television’ and a ‘Danger in Hollywood’ Is Thinking About ‘Release Dates, Not Quality’

Having grossed nearly $375 million at the worldwide box office ($362 million so far), Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two” appears to be a big success, even though it apparently needs to hit the $500 million mark to break even. Ah, movie math.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Kate Winslet championed intimacy coordinators in a recent interview with The New York Times. The Oscar winner said having an intimacy coordinator on set would’ve benefitted her every time she was required to perform a sexual situation on camera, be it more graphic scenes featuring full frontal nudity or far tamer scenes with just kissing. “I would have benefited from an intimacy coordinator every single time I had to do a love scene or be partially naked or even a kissing scene,” Winslet said.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “Dune: Part Two” features one of the starriest casts in recent memory. From Timothée Chalamet to Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista and more, there’s rarely a scene in the Denis Villeneuve-directed sequel that isn’t filled with star power. The cast was supposed to be even bigger, however, but the filmmaker had to make some cuts to the final edit that left at least one actor “heartbroken.” Tim Blake Nelson, a regular of the Coen Brothers thanks to films such as “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” was announced as a cast member for “Dune: Part Two” in January 2023.

Dune: Part Two director Denis Villeneuve has defended the film’s lengthy running time amid debates about whether or not films are getting too long.The sci-fi epic has clocked up a running time of 2 hours and 46 minutes, just slightly longer than the first instalment of the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel, which was 2 hours and 35 minutes long.It’s been noted that films have gradually been getting longer in the last decade, sparking a debate about how necessary that is. It picked up pace in particular last year with the release of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon, which were three hours and three and a half hours long respectively.Now, Villeneuve has had his say on the matter.

*Some spoilers ahead for “Dune: Part Two” in the following article, beware.” When adapting a rich sci-fi fantasy literary franchise as dense and epic as the scale of Frank Herbert’s “Dune,” some things just won’t be able to make the feature film adaptation. As you may have noticed if you saw this film this weekend, there are a few elements seen in the David Lynch incarnation that didn’t make it into director Denis Villeneuve’s two-part incarnation, such as the Spicing Guild and Navigator (A mutated clairvoyant that warns The Emperor of House Atreties and Paul Atreteies becoming a threat to them).

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent For “Dune: Part Two,” Denis Villeneuve delved deep into the Arabian desert and spent almost a month shooting in Abu Dhabi’s Liwa Oasis, which provided a substantial portion of the landscape of the desert planet Arrakis, home to the monstrous sandworms. Villeneuve praised the location and services provided by the Abu Dhabi Film Commission and UAE-based production services company Epic Films in a promotional behind-the-scenes video, to which Variety has been given exclusive access.

Diego Ramos Bechara editor Riding a sandworm across the desert planet of Arrakis is something most “Dune” fans have undoubtedly wanted to do at one point or another, but it begs the question: how would one actually get off the giant annelids? Well, “Dune: Part Two” director Denis Villeneuve seems to have an answer, telling IndieWire as such in an interview centered on the sequel. “Dune’s” lore established that the Fremen — a fiercely independent group of desert warriors — can ride the worms, controlling and using them in battle or as transportation across a vast terrain, with entire villages riding on their capacious backs. However, we never actually see anyone get off the worms.

Denis Villeneuve is finally back with the release of Dune: Part Two!

Many questions abound with “Dune: Part Two” now in theaters.

Dune: Part Two may have wrapped up events of Frank Herbert’s original novel, but there’s still plenty of material for more potential sequels.Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the sequel to 2021’s Dune picks up as Paul Atreides unites with the Fremen people on Arrakis to wage war against House Harkonnen.Along with Timothée Chalamet, Dune: Part Two stars Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Charlotte Rampling, Austin Butler and Florence Pugh.The sequel adapts the second half of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, which has been adapted for the screen several times over the years.At the time of writing (March 2024), a sequel has not been officially announced. Judging by how successful both entries have been at the box office, however, it’s certainly likely that Warner Bros.

Adam Sandler is set to remind us he's more than an esteemed comedy performer with his latest Netflix offering. The actor has produced and starred in a number of films on the streaming giant, including the Murder Mystery duology featuring Jennifer Aniston.

Following ecstatic reviews (including ours) and a super impressive Rotten review score of 97, Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two” seems poised to not only conquer the sagging 2024 box office but enliven it, perhaps giving it the shot in the arm it needs. READ MORE: ‘Dune: Part Two’ Review: A Darker, Devastating Blockbuster & Cautionary Tale About Prophecy, Fate & False Idols It’s a colossal film and an immense achievement, but a much darker film, and clearly much darker than I expected (full disclosure: I started reading, but put down Frank Herbert‘s “Dune” before the first film came out; more below).

As her many online fans have noticed, Rebecca Ferguson is playful, eccentric, sometimes very candid, can turn on a dime, and does not suffer fools. Interviewing her can be like riding a wild bull, a bit unpredictable and disarming, and I found that to be very much the case with my latest interview with her about “Dune: Part Two” (read our review here).

Sometimes, a filmmaker makes a comment in the home stretch of promotion for their film that either blows up the marketing plan or irritates the rank and file of cineastes. And just as “Dune: Part Two” is about to hit theaters (read our review), director Denis Villeneuve seems to have made provocative comments in a recent interview that have kind of blown up the internet.

For these Hollywood elites, an Ivy League education was just a stepping stone to their successful career paths. The actors in this roundup attended Columbia University in New York City. Some A-listers on this list graduated from the private school, while others enrolled for a time before dropping out to fully pursue a career in acting.

Denis Villeneuve is sharing his opinions on television and movies.

Denis Villeneuve is a credited screenwriter on six of the acclaimed features he has directed — including Dune: Part One, for which he received a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination from the Academy but not directing nomination. He is, however, not a fan of dialogue.

Timothée Chalamet and Denis Villeneuve have said that they spoke to each other in French on the set of their new film, Dune: Part Two.The pair were speaking to the The New York Times to promote the new film, which is the second part of the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 896-page sci-fi novel, and the writer of the interview noted that they were speaking in French each other when they arrived. Villeneuve is from Quebec, the French-speaking area of Canada, while Chalamet is a dual American and French citizen.“It was the way that we were able to find intimacy in the chaos.

Austin Butler‘s breakout came from a Method acting performance for the ages in Baz Luhrmann‘s “Elvis,” with the actor living in the role on camera and off for about three years. But Butler wasn’t about to do that for Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in “Dune: Part Two“.

After David Lynch tried to adapt Frank Herbert’s “unadaptable” Dune with little success in 1984, Denis Villeneuve had a crack in 2021 by splitting the book in two and he set a new bar for the sci-fi genre with Dune: Part One. Part Two has a lot to prove but fans of Herbert’s magnum opus can rest easy because it’s every bit as groundbreaking as its predecessor and then some. The title card at the end of Dune boldly declared itself as “Part One” and left many apprehensive about the future of the story.