A thread about the Denis Villeneuve-helmed reboot of DUNE

FASTER FACE-DANCER! KILL!! KILL!!

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/dune-trailer-pink-floyd-eclipse-streams-1058400/
"On Spotify — where “Eclipse” streams were up 54 percent on a whole — Eclipse witnessed an 86 percent influx of users listening to the track for the first time on September 9th."

such a weird non-story unless you include numbers of spins and not percentages. If it got 10k spins for the month and now gets 20k spins... big deal?

"digital sales of the song soared 1,750 percent" sounds good but what was the starting number? Did it sell even 100 copies this year prior to the trailer?

GLENNNNNNNN

Villeneuve is...not happy

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/dune-denis-villeneuve-blasts-warner-bros-1234851270/

I wonder how these deals work if certain parties were to take home a percentage of the box office

It was crime at the time
But the laws, we changed 'em
Though the hero for hire's
Forever the same one

What do these guys think the alternative is? Saying “everything’s gonna be back to normal next October” is... not true?

Yeah, I get why they're annoyed but, like, get in line. I'm annoyed or upset or angry every day for reasons other than "my $200 million movie has been delayed and dumped on a premium streaming service and maybe because of that I won't get to make more $200 sequels." One thing that doesn't make me annoyed? If I want to see his "Dune," I don't have to wait (at least) another year. Hopefully things will be better in a year, and by "better" I mean a hundred things before I mean movie theaters are back open again.

I don’t really know what kind of honest response from the guy you’d like to hear about this? Not unreasonable.

Alan Smithee redux?

I mean yeah, tiny violins for big time movie directors, but it’s not like he’s downplaying the pandemic, just the erratic and confusing handling of a big time passion project that’s 1/2 of a whole and the performance of that first half determines if a second half is made. Anyone would be lying through their teeth if they were all “Yeah, totally cool” about it. Doubt he’d be upset about delaying it further if October theater going was still unworkable.

i wouldn't say that getting to see the first dune movie early is a win if the endgame is that no one funds the second one

he's one of a lot of people arguing that this could be the beginning of the end of the financial model by which large-scale movies are made, which is kind of a big deal

He’s arguing that Warner bros should give it a theatrical release in October which... there’s just no universe where this movie comes out in October and makes $350m.

a lot of people arguing that this could be the beginning of the end of the financial model by which large-scale movies are made

I think it would depend entirely on whether that model has only been disrupted temporarily, causing massive capital losses that are tied to a social conditions that will eventually change back to something resembling 2019, or if the changes are permanent and irreversible. If only temporary, then there are still billions of dollars a year to be made by a resumption of large-scale movies. No studio will walk away from those kinds of profits. At present nothing that might replace that pre-virus model looks as lucrative as it was.

He’s arguing that Warner bros should give it a theatrical release in October which... there’s just no universe where this movie comes out in October and makes $350m.

I honestly don't understand why there is any expectation this would necessarily do any better than Blade Runner 2049, even in the best of circumstances. I think that movie ended up doing OK, but it wasn't exactly a galvanizing event film.

Then again, looks Denis Villeneuve is eying a "Cleopatra" film next, so clearly making things anyone wants to see is not a real priority of his.

He’s arguing that Warner bros should give it a theatrical release in October

I'm confused, isn't that still happening? The current plan is a simultaneous release in theatres and HBO Max. I think Villeneuve's saying it should be theatres only, but he's arguing as though it won't be shown in theatres at all.

I *think* he's partly arguing that by October 2021 things will be back to normal and the collective theatrical experience will resume, so he wanted to stick with that rescheduled release date. Which ... who knows what even next week will bring at this rate. But then there's this:

Warner Bros.’ decision means “Dune” won’t have the chance to perform financially in order to be viable and piracy will ultimately triumph.

I dunno, I think he's (again, rightly) mostly pissed at having been taken by surprise by this corporate-minded decision. Because I'm with Soderbergh and others in thinking that until there's a streaming service that enables a single movie to bring in a billion dollars, then studios will be more than happy to stick with the theatrical model. Now, smaller movies might have more trouble than ever in the post-Covid era, but that's as much the problem with too-big-to-fail $200 million franchises themselves, in which case Villeneuve (or Nolan, et al.) isn't exactly helping the cause.

I honestly don't understand why there is any expectation this would necessarily do any better than Blade Runner 2049, even in the best of circumstances. I think that movie ended up doing OK, but it wasn't exactly a galvanizing event film.

Then again, looks Denis Villeneuve is eying a "Cleopatra" film next, so clearly making things anyone wants to see is not a real priority of his.

Since we're Roku people and are not going to go see anything in a theater until the vaccine is widespread among the general populace, I'm with Villenueve here. I was hoping this would be a cool date night movie to see with my wife on a nice big screen and instead it's going to be a fart in a hurricane like every other big tentpole released during quarantine. Fuck Warner.

You might be able to get hbo max on a computer and screen mirror?

Or... I could just tell AT&T to eat shit

I'm confused, isn't that still happening? The current plan is a simultaneous release in theatres and HBO Max. I think Villeneuve's saying it should be theatres only, but he's arguing as though it won't be shown in theatres at all.

His argument is about getting the second one made - by dual releasing it in October, the box office numbers are going to be smaller than they would otherwise be, because HBOMax revenue just for Dune isn't really quantifiable (and given studio shenanigans they will almost certainly downplay its value there). His fear that it will be treated as a flop which will then mean there's no Dune II: The Duning.

xp in my way, you at least get to see the movie. it doesn't feel as good, though.

It does, does it?

An Official Poster Banner of DUNE. pic.twitter.com/vVGmZ1xBa6

— ⊃∪∩⪽ (@DuneNews) July 19, 2021

Also IMAX trailer or something in the next couple of days.

:D

New #DuneMovie posters are out! This one is my favorite. pic.twitter.com/edywSvapTZ

— Dune Sietchposting (@Sietchposting) July 19, 2021

I am very much looking forward to #Dune.

But the combination of this character name and that poster makes it look like a Nicholas Sparks adaptation about a salt-of-the-earth tractor repair man who has yet to figure out the mysteries of the human heart. https://t.co/qo5ejsaEms

— Darren Mooney (@Darren_Mooney) July 19, 2021

sorry that's the most tryhard tweet i've seen in a while

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g18jFHCLXk

oh good there's Banter

Please please no spoilers on what is beginning

lotta momoa itt (in that trailer)

"Smile, Gurney." (literally nobody is smiling)

Both what I expected and kinda not, so.

looks great imo

rebecca ferguson was a great casting choice

Looks a little better than I expected, but still terrible.

😢 pic.twitter.com/lq5h5CAlMS

— pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” (@pixelatedboat) July 22, 2021

tbf to that tweet "duncan idaho" is one of the stupidest character names of all time

this looks good enough to me though. seems like they might have successfully threaded the needle re:depicting the tech & imagery described in the book faithfully without making it look completely ridiculous and camp

new trailer is much more exciting than the previous one

smart business move to make it so brown and dark that you need to see it in IMAX to make out wtf is going on

pic.twitter.com/RNexQYq68a

— the thicc husband & father (@lukeisamazing) July 22, 2021

lmao come on

The best part of casting a not-fat, not-gay actor in a fat gay role is them talking about how arduous the process is. Did they have to wear a fat suit?! How awful! Did they have to flirt with a guy?! The indignity! pic.twitter.com/Fn0Q3N5ylY

— Guy Branum (@guybranum) July 22, 2021

slay, space pedo, work

A trailer breakdown for those inclined

https://gizmodo.com/breaking-down-the-sandworm-riding-and-space-folding-in-1847342233

Has anyone ever seen Stellan Skarsgård make any facial expression besides the one in that photo? Share your testimony, if so.

Pretty sure I remember him doing that face at various points in Hunt for Red October thirty years back, so no.

DUDE. Er, DUNE.

The official #DUNE poster has arrived. 📸🎬

The film is set to arrive on October 22, 2021. pic.twitter.com/dYFvpcJnzk

— Complex Pop Culture (@ComplexPop) August 9, 2021

DUDE. Er, DUNE.

The official #DUNE poster has arrived. 📸🎬

The film is set to arrive on October 22, 2021. pic.twitter.com/dYFvpcJnzk

— Complex Pop Culture (@ComplexPop) August 9, 2021