Tag: Timothee Chalamet

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‘Dune Messiah’: Denis Villeneuve Says Script “Almost Finished” But Hopes To Make Another Movie Before Tackling His Last ‘Dune’ Installment

There has been an assumption of what happens next for the “Dune” franchise once the second installment, the other half of the first book, is released in theaters on March 1, 2024, after being bumped from its November date as Warner Bros. fearing the cast wouldn’t be able to promote the sequel due to the SAG-AFTRA strike (A deal with the AMPTP is now ratified by members). Director, co-writer, and producer Denis Villeneuve is giving us a rather large update.

While speaking at an event in South Korea (via Tong Tong Culture) today to promote “Dune: Part Two,” the filmmaker revealed that the script to “Dune Messiah,” aka, “Dune 3” is nearly finished but doesn’t see himself jumping back to Arrakis anytime soon after a “very challenging” shoot on the second pic.

“There’s the dream of making an adaptation of ‘Dune Messiah,’ the third movie that will be the end of the journey of Paul Atreides. It will make absolute sense for me to do this movie. The movie is being written right now, the screenplay is almost finished, but it’s not finished it will take a little time. I don’t know exactly when I’ll go back to Arrakis, but I might make a detour before just to move away from the sand for my mental sanity (laughs), I might do something in between but my dream would be to rule one last time on this planet that I love.”

Villeneuve also seemed to reiterate that the third film is expected to be when he dismounts from as the franchise director, nothing says someone else couldn’t keep the movies going as there are four other novels from Frank Herbert to adapt. Neither Legendary nor Warner Bros. has officially greenlit/dated the third installment. Still, barring any major box office and critical hiccups next year when “Dune: Part Two” is finally released, there is an expectation that the studio will sign off on the next installment of the “Dune” saga.

One of those potential projects Villeneuve could attempt to make between “Dune” installments is his adaptation of the Arthur C. Clarke sci-fi novel “Rendezvous With Rama” and would see him reunite with Alcon Entertainment after working with them on “Blade Runner 2049” and his thriller “Prisoners.” Clarke, of course, was the author and co-writer of the screenplay of the iconic Stanley Kubrick film “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The French-Canadian filmmaker was first announced for the project back in December 2021 in an article from The Hollywood Reporter and screenwriter Eric Roth (“Killers of The Flower Moon“) may have revealed doing some screenwriting work on the project last month without directly naming “Rama.”

“I just wrote a movie for Denis Villeneuve. We’ll see what ends up happening with it, but it’s about space and time, and it’s very lonely. It’s certainly about eternity,” Roth said on the Script Apart Podcast.

Rumors based on a production grid making the rounds online had suggested that his next film could be “Cleopatra” for Sony Pictures. However, this has yet to be confirmed/backed up by Villeneuve (Who has yet to announce his involvement), trades, or Sony themselves. Also worth bringing back up is Villeneuve’s new statement from today about “moving away from the sand” for a production shoot which would suggest he’s not itching right now to make a movie about a historical Egyptian leader.

As mentioned, “Dune: Part Two” will hit theaters on March 1, 2024.

You can watch that full exchange with Villeneuve below.

SOURCE: DENIS VILLENEUVE VIA TONG TONG CULTURE

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Director Denis Villeneuve Shares Update On Status Of ‘Dune Messiah’ Adaptation: “There Are Words On Paper”

Recently, it was announced by Warner Bros. that they would be moving the release of their sci-fi fantasy film “Dune: Part Two” from November 3, 2023 to March 15, 2024. The move stemmed from the studio being upset they wouldn’t be able to get the film’s popular/young cast to help promote the film ahead of release because the actors’ strike has prevented members from doing press/promotion for struck studio work. A key element of the disruptive nature of strikes and how actors could be highlighting how important their contributions are beyond being in front of the camera. Pushing the film into 2024 is an obvious tactic by the studio to a new date when they assumingly believe the strikes could be resolved.

That hasn’t stopped the early promotional campaign for the film such as a new issue of Empire Magazine featuring an interview with co-writer/director Denis Villeneuve and the filmmaker gave a brief update on the status of their third film in a “Dune” trilogy with the adaptation of Frank Herbert‘s second novel, “Dune Messiah.” Something that the director has been talking about making for a while now and seems like there has been some writing taking place.

“If I succeed in making a trilogy, that would be the dream,” the filmmaker told Empire. “’Dune Messiah’ was written in reaction to the fact that people perceived Paul Atreides as a hero,” Villeneuve explains. “Which is not what [Frank Herbert] wanted to do. My adaptation [of Dune] is closer to his idea that it’s actually a warning.”

“I will say, there are words on paper,” Villeneuve said of the status of the third film referred to as “Dune: Part Three.”

There had been previous indications that franchise screenwriter Jon Spaihts (“Prometheus”) had already tossed around ideas, but it’s starting to sound like they might actually be developing an early outline/draft. This wouldn’t be that shocking given Villeneuve has been talking about making his “Dune” trilogy for a while now. The speediness of the development would likely hinge on the material already existing in a book that the public is very much aware of and that fits nicely alongside the last two films. It would also explain why Villeneuve is talking about stepping away from the director’s chair once he completes the trilogy, three films would allow him to accomplish his adaptation without having to wade into the waters of the more wacky elements of the subsequent sequels that got increasingly weirder.

SOURCE: EMPIRE

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Denis Villeneuve’s Highly Anticipated ‘Dune: Part Two’ Officially Delayed To March 2024

There had been some rumblings back in July that Warner Bros., in the wake of the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes, was strongly considering a delay for the release of “Dune: Part Two.” The reasoning was said to be due to the studio not being able to capitalize on the young/popular cast members promoting the film and participating in various press interviews to boost audience numbers leading up to the theatrical release. As actors are being asked not to promote projects during the strikes on struck projects. In the hopes for a large financial jump at the global box office from the last film that was directly impacted by COVID.

Well, it looks like that is indeed the case as Warner Bros. has officially bumped the release date for “Dune 2” from November 3 to all the way into 2024 with a new March 15 date. We’ll keep our fingers crossed there won’t be another delay and this one sticks.

It is also assumed Warners will move their DC Comics pic “Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom” (a December movie that is without a trailer) into 2024, but we’re still waiting on official confirmation on that front and the studio seems to be still mulling over that decision despite failing to even start a marketing campaign.

Filmmaker Denis Villeneuve has previously teased his desire to adapt the second Frank Herbert novel, “Dune Messiah,” to round out a “Dune” trilogy. There is also a prequel/spinoff series at Max, “Dune: The Sisterhood,” currently shooting after multiple creative/production hiccups that will focus on the Harkonnen Sisters establishing the Bene Gesserit and is set 10,000 years before the events of the movies.

“Dune: Part Two” will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.

The big-screen epic continues the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s acclaimed bestseller Dune with returning and new stars, including Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet (“Wonka,” “Call Me by Your Name”), Zendaya (“Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Malcolm & Marie,” “Euphoria”), Rebecca Ferguson (“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning”), Oscar nominee Josh Brolin (“Avengers: End Game,” “Milk”), Oscar nominee Austin Butler (“Elvis,” “Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood”), Oscar nominee Florence Pugh (“Black Widow,” “Little Women”), Dave Bautista (the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, “Thor: Love and Thunder”), Oscar winner Christopher Walken (“The Deer Hunter,” “Hairspray”), Stephen McKinley Henderson (“Fences,” “Lady Bird”), Léa Seydoux (the “James Bond” franchise and “Crimes of the Future”), with Stellan Skarsgård (the “Mamma Mia!” films, “Avengers: Age of Ultron”), with Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling (“45 Years,” “Assassin’s Creed”), and Oscar winner Javier Bardem (“No Country for Old Men,” “Being the Ricardos”).

SOURCE: WARNER BROS.

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‘Dune: Part Two’: Dave Bautista Calls Austin Butler’s Performance As Feyd-Rautha “Terrifying”

This year will mark Dave Bautista‘s end in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 but it’s not the only big studio sci-fi project on the horizon. The actor is also set to reprise the role of the Baron’s nephew Rabban Harkonnen in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two and we’ll get to see even more villainy from that House as Paul will attack them on multiple fronts thanks to his new Fremen army.

Best Actor nominee Austin Butler (Elvis) is one of the new additions to the franchise as his character Feyd-Rautha was strategically missing in the first installment as not to introduce too many characters at once. Bautista is now sharing his experience working with Butler on the sequel to USA Today and sounds like we’re getting to see another side to Butler compared to his performance of Elvis Presley.

“There’s a lot more layers to Rabban, and none of them are good,” the actor teased about the highly-anticipated sequel. Bautista adds that Butler became a chameleon as his villainous younger brother, “I don’t know who this guy was, but it’s not Austin Butler. It’s not Elvis. His voice is different, his look is different. Everything about his demeanor is terrifying.”

To be fair, it’s not like Butler was cute and seductive when he played Manson Family member Tex Watson in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and attempted to butcher the leads in a revisionist version of those horrific events. However, he’ll likely have a lot more screen time in the Dune sequel than he did in that movie.

Butler isn’t the only newbie on the call-sheet we’ll also see Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, the daughter of Christopher Walken‘s Emperor Shaddam IV. Another interesting addition was French actress Léa Seydoux in the role of Lady Margot Fenring of House Fenring (another Bene Gesserit character), who is married to Count Hasimir Fenring. Other returning cast members are Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Charlotte Rampling, and Javier Bardem.

Dune: Part Two is set to be released in theaters on November 3, 2023 and we can’t wait for a teaser trailer from Warner Bros. that is likely going to arrive between now and San Diego Comic-Con.

SOURCE: USA TODAY

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Léa Seydoux To Play Bene Gesserit Character Lady Margot Fenring In ‘Dune: Part Two’

I think it’s safe to say audeinces are excited to see what director Denis Villeneuve has come up with for his second Dune installment with Dune: Part Two and the casting so far has been extremely impressive. It keeps getting better with each new addition.

Another high-profle actor has been selected to join the sci-fi fantasy epic as Deadline reports that French actress Léa Seydoux (Crimes of The Future) has been cast in the role of Lady Margot Fenring of House Fenring.

Like Lady Jessica, she is a Bene Gesserit and married Count Hasimir Fenring, which likely means the Count is potentially in the film too. While aligned with the Emperor Shaddam IV of House Corrino, she has been helpful to the Jessica and could be a secret ally to the Atreides in the film as they gather an army of Fremem to defeat their enemies of Irrakis using the meissah prophecy for his own personal benefit.

Other additions to the sequel’s cast include actress Florence Pugh (Black Widow, Midsommar) as Princess Irulan, the daughter of Christopher Walken‘s Emperor Shaddam IV. A role that would have importance in sequels. Also, taking a villain role is Austin Butler (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Elvis) is playing Paul’s evil Harkonnen rival, Feyd-Rautha, the dangerous pretty-boy nephew of Baron Harkonnen (played by Stellan Skarsgard).

Returning for second half of the story are Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Charlotte Rampling, and Javier Bardem.

Dune: Part Two is set to be released on October 20, 2023, and is expected to begin shooting this summer. Villeneuve has indicated that a third film could be on the table as he hopes to adapt the second Frank Herbet novel, Dune Messiah, to round-out a trilogy.

DUNE – A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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Denis Villeneuve Says Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen Will Be “A Very Important Character” In ‘Dune: Part Two’

Denis Villeneuve’s first Dune installment held back on introducing too many characters all at once, which likely helped make the film more accessible to a general audience by not showing too many faces all at once and splitting the first book into two parts (the David Lynch film becoming a bit of a bloated mess).

The filmmaker spoke with Empire about Dune in a spoiler-filled interview and explained the reasoning behind making the Spice Guild Navigators mysterious and not introducing “very important” characters like Feyd-Rathua Harkonnen.

“Definitely. That’s a choice that I personally brought on. There was enough characters that were introduced in this first part, and it will be more elegant to keep Feyd for [Dune: Part Two]. It will be definitely a very, very important character in the second part.”

Feyd is essentially Paul’s Harkonnen rival and the two eventually duel. His casting will be highly anticipated alongside new roles such as The Emperor, Princess Irulan, and Alia Atreides.

Villeneuve also clarified that the group seen in the film are simply Guild representatives, and not Navigators, who will be also saved for later. Another important group in the Dune mythology.

“They were Guild representatives. They were not Navigators. We don’t see the Navigators in this first part. That was the one of the challenges of this adaptation – I was trying to keep mystery alive as much as possible. We don’t show the Emperor, we don’t see the Spacing Guild Navigators. There’s a lot of characters that are mentioned or that are in the background that we don’t see right away. I tried to keep all the space-travelling as mysterious as possible, like almost bringing some kind of mysticism or sacred relationship with that part of the movie. Everything involving space is just evocated and very mysterious.”

Casting those key new characters will likely start soon with the studio eyeing a production start of July 18 and a release date of October 20, 2023.

DUNE – A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

SOURCE: EMPIRE

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‘Dune: Part Two’ To Begin Filming On July 18

Dune has crossed $300 million at the global box office and Legendary/Warner Bros. has officially announced the second film, Dune: Part Two, is moving ahead with a release date of October 20, 2023.

We now have a better idea when director Denis Villeneuve will get cameras rolling and should have the returning/new cast ready to go to finish the second half of the story.

Josh Encinias apparently attended a Dune Q&A, where it was revealed that they’ll get production on Dune: Part Two started sooner than expected with a potential start of July 18, 2022. Denis Villeneuve had indicated a possible fall start in interviews before the sequel was greenlit and would suggest they’re ahead of schedule if they started over the summer.

https://twitter.com/joshencinias/status/1457142561575817224

Considering we already know most of the cast and crew are returning, the next big step will be announcing the actors for new roles such as The Emperor, Princess Irulan, Paul’s sister Alia Atreides, and Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Villeneuve doubled-down on the idea of making a trilogy and suggests he’s “always envisioned” making three movies. The idea was that he’d adapt Frank Herbert’s second novel, Dune Messiah, for a third movie.

“I always envisioned three movies. It’s not that I want to do a franchise, but this is Dune, and Dune is a huge story. In order to honor it, I think you would need at least three movies. That would be the dream. To follow Paul Atreides and his full arc would be nice.”

“Herbert wrote six books, and the more he was writing, the more it was getting psychedelic. So I don’t know how some of them could be adapted. One thing at a time. If I ever have the chance to do Dune: Part Two and Dune Messiah, I’m blessed.”

I don’t think we’re going to get more than three movies from Villeneuve but he very much could be involved with subsequent series spinoffs like Dune: The Sisterhood and beyond. Having Legendary and HBO Max announcing more Dune shows would be the least surprising thing to happen.

DUNE – A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

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Denis Villeneuve Still Keen To Adapt ‘Dune Messiah’ To Make A ‘Dune’ Trilogy: “I Always Envisioned Three Movies”

This week saw Legendary announce officially that Dune: Part Two is moving forward with Warner Bros. planning to release it on October 20, 2023, all but confirming its shoot will indeed start by fall of 2022 (hinted to by Denis Villeneuve).

However, it doesn’t sound like they’ll stop at only two movies and a series, Dune: The Sisterhood. During the promotional tour for the film, director Denis Villeneuve has talked up the idea of tackling the second Frank Herbert, Dune Messiah, for a third film.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, he doubled-down on the idea of making a trilogy and suggests he’s “always envisioned” making three movies.

“I always envisioned three movies. It’s not that I want to do a franchise, but this is Dune, and Dune is a huge story. In order to honor it, I think you would need at least three movies. That would be the dream. To follow Paul Atreides and his full arc would be nice.”

“Herbert wrote six books, and the more he was writing, the more it was getting psychedelic. So I don’t know how some of them could be adapted. One thing at a time. If I ever have the chance to do Dune: Part Two and Dune Messiah, I’m blessed.”

If Villneueve gets to make his trilogy, the impression he gives he won’t be the one to adapt the other four books such as Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse: Dune. Given the time-jumps, it would mean they’d have to recast roles and we don’t know if Legendary will even attempt to adapt the other books.

Then again, cycling out different directors to continue a Dune franchise wouldn’t be unheard of. Legendary could also decide to stop at a trilogy and pivot to television/HBO Max for the other books. Global box office returns would likely have a big impact on all of this.

As far as we know, Jon Spaihts is only tackling the Dune: Part Two script and they haven’t said they are actively working on a Dune Messiah movie, just the intention to do so in the future.

SOURCE: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

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‘Dune: Part Two’: Legendary Officially Announces Sequel To Release October 2023

After Dune’s impressive $41 million domestic opening weekend, Legendary has officially announced that Dune: Part Two is moving forward with a release in October 2023 from Warner Bros. as the sci-fi epic has already earned $223.2 million globally.

Denis Villeneuve had previously said a fall production start next year was “realistic.”

We already know that Dune: Part Two has been in development for the better part of two years with Villeneuve co-writing the script with Jon Spaihts, the latter exiting the HBO Max series Dune: The Sisterhood to focus on the sequel. A clear sign the project was a priority for Legendary.

While they could stop at two movies, Villeneuve has considered the idea of pushing towards a trilogy by using Dune Messiah as the basis of the third movie.

“There is Dune’s second book, The Messiah of Dune, which could make an extraordinary film. I always saw that there could be a trilogy; after that, we’ll see. It’s years of work; I can’t think of going further than that.”

The second installment would allow for more casting additions with roles such as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, Paul’s young sister Alia Atreides, Princess Irulan, Shaddam IV The Padishah Emperor, and others. Since those characters are being saved and allowed for Dune to give newbies a crash course on the franchise’s deep mythology.

I wouldn’t be terribly shocked if we see a bit of a time jump between the two movies.

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‘Dune’ Earns $41M Over The Weekend With ‘Dune: Part Two’ Announcement Incoming

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune has finally been unleashed domestically after an international launch weeks prior and the dense sci-fi has achieved a big hurdle, making a solid amount of money at the domestic box office during the opening weekend.

According to Bloomberg, the film has earned an impressive $41 million domestically over the weekend, putting the film’s global cume to $223.2 million with Dune’s production being said to have cost $165 million.

It’s the best domestic opening for Warner Bros. since 2019’s Joker and has surpassed every other pandemic era film including things like Tenet, Wonder Woman 1984 (Wonder Woman 3 already in development), Godzilla Vs. Kong, Space Jam: Legacy, Mortal Kombat, and The Suicide Squad.

We already know that Dune: Part Two has been in development for the better part of two years with Villeneuve co-writing the script with Jon Spaihts, the latter exiting the HBO Max series Dune: The Sisterhood to focus on the sequel. A clear sign the project was a priority for Legendary.

Denis Villeneuve has talked up the potential of starting production in the fall of 2022, a director wouldn’t normally mention a start date for filming unless there was already prep in certain stages already.

WarnerMedia Studios CEO Ann Sarnoff has all but said that they’re planning on moving forward, but as Variety points out it’s, apparently, Legendary’s call and the next installment could be announced very soon.

Why Legendary has yet to unveil plans for a sequel remains ambiguous, though an announcement could come shortly, according to insiders.

While they could stop at two movies, Villeneuve has considered the idea of pushing towards a trilogy by using Dune Messiah as the basis of the third movie.

“There is Dune’s second book, The Messiah of Dune, which could make an extraordinary film. I always saw that there could be a trilogy; after that, we’ll see. It’s years of work; I can’t think of going further than that.”

The second installment would allow for more casting additions with roles such as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, Princess Irulan, Shaddam IV The Padishah Emperor, and others. Since those characters are being saved and allowed for Dune to give newbies a crash course on the franchise’s deep mythology.

A late 2022 shoot likely means we won’t see Dune: Part Two released until 2023-2024.

SOURCE: BLOOMBERG