The hype surrounding Denis Villeneuve's Dune has had fans eagerly waiting, and as if it couldn't get any bigger, Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao saw an early screening of the film and has revealed her reaction in a recent interview for the September 2021 issue of Sight & Sound magazine.
Zhao, winning Best Director and Best Picture for Nomadland at the 2020 Academy Awards, has been in the indie scene for quite a while. Now, she is taking on her first big-budget film with the MCU's Eternals that is set to release on November 5, 2021, a film that appears to change and expand the MCU as we know it in new and unique ways. Along with Dune, both blockbusters have high expectations and could draw in big numbers at the box office. So it's no surprise that Zhao was excited to see what the visionary Villeneuve had in store and that her reaction to the film would be overwhelmingly positive.
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Zhao claims that she was blown away by the film and that what Villeneuve was able to create gives viewers another reason to experience the film in a theatre. "It gives me hope that a filmmaker like Denis is able to really harness his vision and put together something that’s so incredible, so cinematic. I’m just blown away by the experience I had in that room," Zhao shares in her interview. She also adds her worry of how many fans will not be able to witness Dune in a theatre, especially since it will be available to stream on HBO MAX simultaneously to its theatrical release.
In a world where streaming is becoming more of the norm, filmmakers like Zhao and Villeneuve really push and support a theatrical experience rather than watching films like Eternals or Dune at home on a laptop. In an essay he wrote for Variety, Villeneuve expressed his frustration with Warner Bros.' decision to have all of their slated 2021 films available for streaming, claiming that there is no love for cinema anymore. He adds, "Streaming can produce great content, but not movies of Dune’s scope and scale. Warner Bros.’ decision means Dune won’t have the chance to perform financially in order to be viable and piracy will ultimately triumph. Warner Bros. might just have killed the Dune franchise."
Villeneuve's films most definitely need to be seen on the biggest screen possible. Films like Sicario, Arrival, and Blade Runner 2049 all prove that, as they provide much of the spectacle and original storytelling that many moviegoers are craving. Villeneuve writes in the interview that Dune is his best movie yet and that he and his team devoted over 3 years to creating something truly worthwhile and spectacular.
Judging by the exhilarating second trailer that was released not too long ago and Zhao's comments, it looks like Dune is shaping up to be a bold experience that will have plenty of fans purchasing a ticket to their nearest theatre. The highly-anticipated blockbuster is based on the 1965 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert and follows young heir Paul Atreides, a young man that accepts stewardship of the dangerous desert planet Arrakis (aka Dune), which also contains the most valuable substance in the universe known as the "spice". The film stars Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, Oscar Isaac as Leto Atreides, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, and Zendaya as Chani.
Dune will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in early September and is set to release in theatres and for streaming on HBO MAX on October 22, 2021.
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