Denis Villeneuve Is Against Post-Credits Scenes: ‘I’ve Never Done That and I Would Never’
Zack Sharf
Denis Villeneuve‘s “Dune” is the first part in a planned two-film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic novel. The movie ends on something of a cliffhanger, which is part of the reason Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff all but confirmed “Dune: Part Two” will see the light of day. But moviegoers accustomed to getting their sequel teases via post-credits scenes better course-correct. “Dune” does not have such a stinger teasing the potential “Dune: Part Two.” It turns out Villeneuve is very much against the utilization of post-credits scenes.
“I don’t like post-credits scenes,” Villeneuve told NME in an interview. “There is a very specific final emotion that I was looking for with the final frame [of ‘Dune’] and I don’t want to mess with that. So no, I don’t use post-credits scenes. I’ve never done that and I would never.”
Villeneuve also stressed that the theatrical cut of “Dune” that’s being released worldwide is the only cut of the movie. Fans should not clamor for a director’s cut, because the theatrical cut is the director’s cut. “Dune” star Jason Momoa recently made headlines for saying he wanted the full six-hour assembly cut of the first “Dune” movie released, but Villeneuve does not even consider that to be an intended cut for the public.
“I love Jason but such a thing doesn’t exist!” Villeneuve said. “The Director’s Cut is what people are watching in theaters right now. There will be no other cut…Yes I could have made a much longer, more contemplative movie, but that was not the plan.”
Villeneuve said as much to fans during the release of his last tentpole, “Blade Runner 2049.” The director said at the time, “The thing is, the movie you’re going to see is the director’s cut. There will be no further…maybe there’ll be a ‘studio version’ [laughs], maybe a producer version, but not a director’s version. That’s my director’s cut. So I don’t think there will be further versions. If there are alternate versions, they’re not from me.”
As for the next “Dune” movie, Villeneuve is still waiting on an official greenlight from Warner Bros. The director wanted to film both “Dune” films back-to-back, but the studio preferred to take the wait-and-see approach to determine what interest would be in the franchise by producing and distributing “Part One” first. Warner Bros. CEO Sarnoff appeared bullish when Deadline asked about the next movie this week.
“Will we have a sequel to ‘Dune?’ If you watch the movie you see how it ends,” Sarnoff said. “I think you pretty much know the answer to that.”
