Despite being insanely difficult to adapt for live-action, Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic “Dune,” has been brought to life most popularly in a 1984 film by David Lynch and early-2000s miniseries for SyFy network. Neither quite hit the mark, with Lynch doing the whole Lynch thing in his film and the miniseries suffering from a lack of budget, among other things. But director Denis Villeneuve is hoping to do the source material justice in his upcoming 2020 film, and star Oscar Isaac thinks the filmmaker is going to succeed.
Speaking to EW, Isaac talked about “Dune,” in which he stars opposite an incredible cast that includes Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgard, Charlotte Rampling, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, and Zendaya. The actor specifically discussed how Villeneuve’s take on the Herbert novel is something completely different than the adaptations of previous years.
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“It’s just a wholly, wholly different thing,” said the actor. “I couldn’t imagine anyone more suited for the tone of the original Frank Herbert novels than Denis. There are some things that are — for lack of a better word — nightmarish about what you see… There’s just this kind of brutalist element to it.”
He added, “It’s shocking. It’s scary. It’s very visceral. And I know that definitely between Denis and myself and Chalamet and Rebecca Ferguson as the family unit, we really searched for the emotion of it. I’m beyond myself with excitement. I think it’s good to feel cool, unique, and special.”
So far, everything that has been reported about “Dune” has been pitch-perfect. It’s hard to imagine anyone being able to fully bring Frank Herbert’s vision to the big screen, but damn, Villeneuve sure does seem like the perfect man for the job. We have our fingers crossed big time for this film.
“Dune” is expected to hit theaters on December 18, 2020.
