With the incredible line-up of talent involved in the upcoming film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel, “Dune,” you would think that anyone and everyone in Hollywood would kill to be part of the production. But for composer Hans Zimmer, the choice to do “Dune” meant that he was going to have to turn his back on one of his biggest collaborators, Christopher Nolan.
However, as explained to us in a new interview, Zimmer’s choice between working on ‘Dune’ or working with Nolan on the upcoming ‘Tenet’ had more to do with his childhood than with which project he thinks will ultimately work best. In fact, as much as he loves Nolan (and it’s clear that he does), the composer just couldn’t turn his back on the chance to score one of his childhood favorite novels.
“‘Dune’ is one of my favorite books from my teenage years and I love Denis Villeneuve, obviously,” explained Zimmer.
He goes on to talk about how he loves working with the film’s editor Joe Walker, with their collaborations dating back to the ‘80s. Zimmer also mentions something that should prove interesting when listening to his work on “Dune,” he’s never seen the David Lynch-directed version of the film from 1984.
“It almost feels like family,” he added. “And I never saw the original ‘Dune’ movie, and so, I’m coming at this in a fresh way, just from the book.”
Ultimately, it sounds as if there was no choice for Zimmer, as he concluded, “I have to do it.”
Zimmer wants to stress that there’s no strife between himself and Nolan, and he thinks that the filmmaker will be “just fine” with the addition of Ludwig Göransson as the composer for ‘Tenet.’
“Dune” is set to arrive in theaters, complete with a score by Zimmer, on November 20, 2020. And you can hear more of the interview we had with the legendary composer on The Fourth Wall podcast.
