Loved Blade Runner 2049 and most of Villeneuve's other films, so I can't share the pessimism regarding Dune. Guess we'll see when it finally launches.
Dune (2020) by Dennis Villeneuve
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greygoose
Super Freak
Too right!
generalszabo
Super Freak
Yeah, far too much pessimism going around on this board sometimes
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Freakalicious
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Bah, I wouldn’t be lurking and waisting my life away here if it wasn’t for a good healthy dose of pessimism to make it worthwhile
jye4ever
Broke and happy
WB ready to kick his ass out the door is more like it lol
greygoose
Super Freak
greygoose
Super Freak
I’m sure the new Dune might be a mildly entertaining popcorn flick that might get a sequel. As a whole, unless a filmmaker is ready to reverse engineer the film from at least the fourth book to the first, then they will make a bunch of decisions in adapting the front end that will turn into very problematic story telling, world building, and philosophical messaging later on.
For example, if you only look at updating the first book, you could say that there are ‘problematic colonial themes of an outside white person needing to save an indigenous people.’ Which could be why Villeneuve is already on the PR path of advertising Chani as his part 2 heroine. However, if you start blocking out the story from the point of view that Paul will end up as God Emperor multiple generations in the future, then the analysis changes. Dune’s themes aren’t a problematic feature of a book from 1965. It is the freaking point. You want to jump forward 3,500 years to a dystopian future where the savior is now the tyrant.
You want the later story to become a scathing commentary of it’s earlier mythology. To me, Dune always had that Nolan theme from Batman of dying a hero or living to be a villain, but on a massive level of human society. There’s a lot of material there for different filmmakers to reimagine. The problem is that the form of that story, the ability to use time as a story device on a multigenerational level, is something not many can pull off.
Frank Herbert’s use of time as a key story mechanic between books is genius. He sat down and said that this is how 12 years, 9 years, 3,500 years and 1,500 years effect the story. By happenstance we have recently gotten this time jumping mechanic in stories like Karate Kid to Cobra Kai or Ghostbusters to Ghostbusters Afterlife that mimics what Herbert intentionally did between Dune and Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. But waiting for Hollywood to age 30 years and then have filmmakers ask the question “what happened between then in 1980 and now” is a far cry from the generational projection that Dune requires the story architect to do.
In short, any Dune adaptation that just tackles the first book without first asking where they want to end up many films later is pretty much doomed to fail building an epic universe. Even if I have the premise that updating themes from a 55 year old book is fine, if you aren’t able to project how those themes might change and warp over multiple generations into the future, then you’re not making Dune. You’re just making routine sci-fi popcorn fare.
For example, if you only look at updating the first book, you could say that there are ‘problematic colonial themes of an outside white person needing to save an indigenous people.’ Which could be why Villeneuve is already on the PR path of advertising Chani as his part 2 heroine. However, if you start blocking out the story from the point of view that Paul will end up as God Emperor multiple generations in the future, then the analysis changes. Dune’s themes aren’t a problematic feature of a book from 1965. It is the freaking point. You want to jump forward 3,500 years to a dystopian future where the savior is now the tyrant.
You want the later story to become a scathing commentary of it’s earlier mythology. To me, Dune always had that Nolan theme from Batman of dying a hero or living to be a villain, but on a massive level of human society. There’s a lot of material there for different filmmakers to reimagine. The problem is that the form of that story, the ability to use time as a story device on a multigenerational level, is something not many can pull off.
Frank Herbert’s use of time as a key story mechanic between books is genius. He sat down and said that this is how 12 years, 9 years, 3,500 years and 1,500 years effect the story. By happenstance we have recently gotten this time jumping mechanic in stories like Karate Kid to Cobra Kai or Ghostbusters to Ghostbusters Afterlife that mimics what Herbert intentionally did between Dune and Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. But waiting for Hollywood to age 30 years and then have filmmakers ask the question “what happened between then in 1980 and now” is a far cry from the generational projection that Dune requires the story architect to do.
In short, any Dune adaptation that just tackles the first book without first asking where they want to end up many films later is pretty much doomed to fail building an epic universe. Even if I have the premise that updating themes from a 55 year old book is fine, if you aren’t able to project how those themes might change and warp over multiple generations into the future, then you’re not making Dune. You’re just making routine sci-fi popcorn fare.
Popcorn flick? You've never seen a Villeneuve film, have you?
greygoose
Super Freak
True. Can't imagine many families were queuing up to watch Sicario.
jye4ever
Broke and happy
Dune the Musical
The Clown Prince of Crime
Super Freak
Dune is cool and all, but Matrix will be better. Count on It. 
Matrix will be more entertaining.Dune is cool and all, but Matrix will be better. Count on It.
The Clown Prince of Crime
Super Freak
It should be. Then again, it might be totally boring. You never know, maybe Dune's story and characters will be compelling. I hope so. I want to like it.
I want to like BR2049. I just can't. Not sure I can like master of desert worms. The original couldn't keep my interest and I set my expectations for it to be a long burn. Looks good, sounds good, but Villenerfksljndgw's only win was the first Sicario.
The Clown Prince of Crime
Super Freak
Prisoners was pretty good.
I hate deserts, so the story and characters better be good.
I didn't know he did that film. That was really good, too.
Star Wars seems to have whored out that location.
What did you like about Sicario?
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