Timothée Chalamet strides alone across a deserted beach, dressed in stark black as Paul Atreides in a still just released from the upcoming space epic Dune. In the background, transport ships are landing to take our hero to his destiny on the desert planet Arrakis. Director Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of the classic science fiction novel is set for release on December 18, 2020.
Expectations are running high for the movie, with a cast list that includes Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto Atreides, Paul’s father, with Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, Zendaya as Chani, Javier Bardem as Stilgar, Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban, Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Harkonnen — one of the story's villains — and Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck.
In April, the studio released a series of stills that Chalamet and other cast members in their roles.
The Complex Story Of Dune Is Based On A Novel
Dune the movie is based on a series of books written by science fiction icon Frank Herbert, including the original novel Dune, which came out in 1965, along with five sequels that end in Chapterhouse Dune in 1985. Villeneuve has said in interviews that the movie will only cover the first half of the original Dune.
The Dune universe is set thousands of years into the future, when human beings have colonized many planets. Unlike other high tech futures of the imagination, in Dune, human civilization has banned the use of computers, while at the same time, developing advanced technology and abilities. The advances come because of a substance known as "spice mélange" which can only be found on Arrakis, a desert planet.
Naturally, there is a conflict over who controls Arrakis, and therefore the spice. The government, called The Imperium, is a throwback to feudal times, where a handful of Great Houses (families) oversee whole planets. There is a religious group called the Bene Gesserit, a sisterhood of clerics with Jedi-like powers who want to control humanity's development.
Paul Atreides Is A Reluctant Action Hero
Paul's mother, Lady Jessica, played by Rebecca Ferguson in the new movie, is one of the Bene Gesserit. Paul is born into a royal family. House Atreides is one of the Great Houses, wealthy families who rule The Imperium. Paul leaves his life on the fertile ocean planet Caladan to oversee his the extraction of spice mélange on Arrakis, the desert planet. Naturally, danger and adventure wait for him – even though that's the last thing Paul is looking for.
“The immediately appealing thing about Paul was the fact that in a story of such detail and scale and world-building, the protagonist is on an anti-hero’s-journey of sorts,” Chalamet told Vanity Fair.
Along the way, Paul begins to discover his supernatural gifts, and the story takes a much different turn.
Contrasting the wealthy Great Families and The Imperium are the Indigenous people of Arrakis, the Fremen, led by Javier Bardem's Stilgar. Add giant sandworms who prey on those who dare to leave the fortified settlements of Arrakis, and the stage is set for a story of conflict and political intrigue, along with a load of special effects.
The 1984 Film Version Was A Flop — Can Denis Villeneuve Break The 'Dune Curse'?
The original Dune novel won the very first Nebula Award for Best Novel that year, along with the 1966 Hugo Award. Herbert lived long enough to see the 1984 film adaptation, which was a major disappointment to fans and Universal Studios alike — although Herbert was said to enjoy it.
It's not that the project lacked talent, from producer Dino De Laurentiis, director and writer David Lynch, and a cast that included Sting, Patrick Stewart, Virginia Madsen, José Ferrer, Linda Hunt, and Max von Sydow. The sound track was written by rock band Toto, with pieces by Brian Eno. Kyle MacLachlan starred in the Paul Atreides role. One of the challenges in adapting Dune is that the story involves many characters in far-flung locations. Many critics panned the movie, citing its lack of a coherent story, despite some impressive special effects for the time. The film didn't even make back its production costs, although it has become a kind of cult favorite in the decades since then.
Another version, by writer/director Alejandro Jodorowsky was scrapped for financial reasons. Director Villeneuve has some bad luck of his own to overcome. He was responsible for Blade Runner 2049, another visually arresting box office disappointment.
Villeneuve believes that cutting the story in half is key to being able to adapt it to film. He told Vanity Fair that he sees the story as somewhat prophetic. “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."
In an interesting casting twist, Villeneuve made the character of Liet Kynes, usually played by a white man, into a black woman, now played by Sharon Duncan-Brewster.
Dune was made into a limited-edition TV series in 2000, and it looks like another TV version is in the works. Dune: The Sisterhood, is set to broadcast on WarnerMedia’s upcoming streaming service, HBO Max, and will focus on the ancient order of Bene Gesserit.
Hans Zimmer, who worked with Villeneuve on Blade Runner 2049, will write the score to the new version. Dune was filmed on location in Budapest, Hungary, along with locations outside Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates for the desert scenes. In the story, people must wear what are called "stillsuits" that capture moisture and save their lives. In real life, filming in the desert wearing a thick bodysuit was uncomfortably hot.
The movie is still set for a December 2020 release.
