‘Dune’ Debuts First Looks at Oscar Isaac and More, as Villeneuve Touts ‘Complex’ Two-Part Epic
Zack Sharf
On the heels of yesterday’s first look at Timothée Chalamet, “Dune” has unveiled a handful of new photos featuring the debuts of Oscar Isaac, Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, and Rebecca Ferguson in character in Denis Villeneuve‘s upcoming adaptation of Frank Herbert’s legendary science-fiction novel (via Vanity Fair). Villeneuve, coming off his acclaimed “Blade Runner 2049,” has said from the start he intended to split Herbert’s book in half and make a two-part “Dune” film. The director revealed to Vanity Fair his pitch was not unlike what Warner Bros. did with its recent adaptation of Stephen King’s “It.”
“I would not agree to make this adaptation of the book with one single movie,” Villeneuve said to Vanity Fair. “The world is too complex. It’s a world that takes its power in details.”
“Dune” stars Chalamet as Paul Atreides, whose noble family takes ownership of the planet Arakkis. The desert planet is home to the world’s most valuable resource, a drug referred to as “the spice” that grants superhuman abilities, which makes the Atreides family an instant enemy of rival noble families and the indigenous people of Arakkis. Villeneuve chose the desert in Jordan as his stand-in for Arakkis. Chalamet said to Vanity Fair filming there was “really surreal.” The actor added, “There are these Goliath landscapes, which you may imagine existing on planets in our universe, but not on Earth.”
Filming in Jordan also meant filming in extreme temperatures, made unbearable by the “stillsuits” costumes the actors had to wear. “I remember going out of my room at 2 a.m., and it being probably 100 degrees,” Chalamet said. “The shooting temperature was sometimes 120 degrees. They put a cap on it out there, if it gets too hot. I forget what the exact number is, but you can’t keep working. In a really grounded way, it was helpful to be in the stillsuits and to be at that level of exhaustion.”
As for why he wanted to “Dune” in the 21st century, Villeneuve said, “No matter what you believe, Earth is changing, and we will have to adapt. That’s why I think that ‘Dune,’ this book, was written in the 20th century. It was a distant portrait of the reality of the oil and the capitalism and the exploitation — the overexploitation — of Earth. Today, things are just worse. It’s a coming-of-age story, but also a call for action for the youth.”
Head over to Vanity Fair’s website for more first look photos from “Dune” and early teases about the project from Villeneuve himself.
