‘Dune: Part Two’: Josh Brolin Says He’ll “Quit Acting” If Denis Villeneuve Doesn’t Get An Oscar Best Director Nod For His Acclaimed Sequel

And in news that shocks no one, Josh Brolin is still seething about how that Academy snubbed Denis Villeneuve for a Best Director nod back for “Dune” in 2022. So what’ll happen if Villeneuve fails to get nominated again this awards season? Variety reports that Brolin has laid down the guantlet: “If he doesn’t get nominated this year, I’ll quit acting,” said the actor.  

READ MORE: ‘Dune: Messiah’: Denis Villeneuve Teases He’ll Shoot His Sequel In 2026

But let’s rewind the clocks back about 1.5 years, shall we? After Villeneuve didn’t get nominated for the Oscar prize in early 2022, the outspoken Brolin went on a tirade about it on social media. “The unbelievable, almost numbing, flummoxing I feel for Denis Villeneuve not being nominated for best director. It’s just one of those things where you go, ‘Huh? What?!’,” said the actor in an Instagram video message.  Brolin’s diatribe went on for a while, calling Villeneuve’s snub “f*cking totally dumb,” although it clarifies how excellent the director nominated were.  And to be fair, it was a stacked nominee list that year, with Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Spielberg, Kenneth Branagh, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and eventually winner Jane Campion getting the nods. So backwards compliment from Brolin aside, kudos to those five for beating out Villeneuve.

Now, two year later, Brolin wants Villeneuve to get his due. “It was a better movie than the first one,” the actor said about this year’s sequel “Dune: Part Two.” “When I watched it, it felt like my brain was broken open. It’s masterful, and Denis is one of our master filmmakers. If the Academy Awards have any meaning whatsoever, they’ll recognize him.” So will the Academy do so this time around? Honestly, it’s more likely this year.  It’s a weird Oscars race this year, with Sean Baker‘s “Anora” the early favorite in both Best Picture and Best Director categories, with nothing else currently a sure thing.  Thus, the Best Director field is wide open. Villeneuve could grab one of the five nominees, but he’ll have to fend off the likes of James Mangold, Brady Corbet, and Edward Berger to claim it.  And if a smaller picture like “Babygirl” or “Nickel Boys” gains steam this winter, he may have Halina Reijn and RaMell Ross to contend with, too.

But an Oscars season without a clear favorite could also produce a great deal of chaos, and Villeneuve’s achievement with his “Dune” movies could go unrecognized; at least up to Brolin’s standards. “Dune: Part Two” was the highest-grossing movie of 2024 for a while before “Inside Out 2” took that crown, and it’s the rare Hollywood sequel that scored higher with critics than its predecessor.  All of that means “Dune: Part Two” will get considered this awards season, but it doesn’t guarantee Villeneuve a nod that Brolin feels he deserves.

And if Villeneuve doesn’t get the nod, will Brolin really quit acting? Or will he go Gurney Halleck on the Academy? The actor has always been brash, so let’s not take him too seriously here. But at age 56, what else does Brolin have to prove? Walking out on Hollywood wouldn’t be the strangest thing he’s ever done, as his new memoir certainly attests to.