‘Dune: Part Two’: Denis Villeneuve On The Challenges Of Shooting In The Desert And Plans for ‘Dune: Messiah’

deadline.com:

With Dune: Part Two, director and co-writer Denis Villeneuve is in the homestretch of realizing an ambition he’s had since age 14: to transfer his vision to a movie screen; to capture the survival of the Fremen in the inhospitable deserts of Arrakis amid the spice harvesters and ruthless House Harkonnen; to capture the giant sandworms’ majesty, and to tell the love story between Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and Fremen warrior Chani (Zendaya).

With Villeneuve now headed toward an inevitable third installment, Dune: Messiah, he discusses the benefits and difficulties of shooting in the desert heat and his love of Frank Herbert’s work. DEADLINE: Watching Timothée Chalamet reminded me of watching Tom Cruise as he grew into manhood.

How close has he come to your hopes when he was boyish and you set him for the first film? DENIS VILLENEUVE: We have to remind ourselves that he had done the work before, tremendously strong work.

Like for instance, the work he did on The King, where David Michôd put on absolute display of power that I knew that he could tap into.