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I can certainly see him as The Baron(under a lot of fat makeup) playing the character more akin to the book.

Seems like a pretty good match for Villeneuve’s aesthetics actually. I read the much hallowed original novel, and found it fairly pedestrian, unimaginative sci-fi undeserving of its lofty reputation. But more suprisingly, despite the psychotropic underpinnings, for me in no way evocative of either Lynch or Jodorowsky’s cinema. Perhaps Villeneuve can wring some drama from Herbert’s relentless space bureaucracy world-building, complete with footnotes to help guide the reader.

(Ru Paul would have been a better choice for Mohiam.)

That is quite exciting since as soon as I saw Rampling's name I was hoping that she would be in the Reverend Mother part. Though it would be difficult to imagine how anyone could match up to Silvana Mangano!

colinr0380 wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 6:08 am That is quite exciting since as soon as I saw Rampling's name I was hoping that she would be in the Reverend Mother part. Though it would be difficult to imagine how anyone could match up to Silvana Mangano!

I believe Mother Mohiam was played by Sian Phillips in the Lynch movie. Rampling has certainly cornered the market for sinister mentor/teacher roles in mainstream movies.

Oops, my mistake!

Great casting choices, so far. Although, I find it a very white cast. I do hope that actors from other cultures will be considered for other planets, Arrakis to say the least.

The cast is getting TOO loaded, like Tarantino's and Rian Johnson's new ones.

I don't know, when you have that many stars in your movie it just starts to get distracting.

The scales can surely tip either way, but if the director is any good then that can only help. But even if you're merely good it can sometimes collapse under the weight of that. I'm thinking of The Monuments Men as a good example of this, Clooney could have probably done a really good job with just one of it's many stars in the lead but all put together it was kind of a mess. I don't think Villeneuve will have that problem here. Obviously because he's very good at it, but also because this is a fairly balanced cast of A-listers and really good character actors.

I've got to say I feel a little embarrassed about my enthusiasm for this, since it's only based on my love of Villeneuve's work and nothing else since I haven't read the novel or have seen the prior film (I did, however, see the Jodorowsky doc). There's a high temptation to, but I really feel like I should go into this first and then maybe make my way to at least the novel.

I don't believe in too loaded casts ruining a film by JEEZ is this thing stacked.

It's supposed to be two parts, so maybe they're all spread out?

I have the same concerns about the big names being a bit much but I figure with a property this difficult to adapt and with the BO returns for Blade Runner 2049 at the lower end of expectations, Legendary will understandably try to minimise the commercial risks as much as possible. I'm kind of interested in how it all turns out but that's all it is right now: I found the last half hour or so of Blade Runner 2049 very disappointing and Lynch's Dune is not most people's idea of a particularly good film (though I'd rank Wild at Heart lower still of everything he's made yet).

Finch wrote: Fri Feb 15, 2019 2:47 am I'm kind of interested in how it all turns out but that's all it is right now: I found the last half hour or so of Blade Runner 2049 very disappointing

No direct sequel to Blade Runner has any business being any good and yet 2049, somehow, is a fair bit of good. That said, it would have been a lot better without the underground resistance sub-plot and the heavy lifts from Her.

Sicario and Arrival are the two best Villeneuves in my mind, though Incendies has its moments. I will say that for a guy who sometimes gets labeled as a modern auteur, Villeneuve's thematic concerns and aesthetic approach are a bit all over the place. I think Dune continues that eclecticism, especially since it won't be shot by Deakins but Greig Fraser. And since Villeneuve says that he kind of wants this to be an "adult Star Wars."

I can't believe I completely forgot about Arrival when I wrote my last post. I was very impressed with that film.

Surprised WB is back with Legendary

They are feeling confident, considering that this is the remake of an 80s sci-fi movie which was a flop, made by the director of a recent flop sequel to a 80s sci-fi movie which originally flopped.

Lost Highway wrote: Tue Jun 11, 2019 8:14 am They are feeling confident, considering that this is the remake of an 80s sci-fi movie which was a flop, made by the director of a recent flop sequel to a 80s sci-fi movie which originally flopped.

I'm guessing the nature of this means the budget must be pretty substantial as well, with the Blade Runner sequel you could potentially have made something a bit smaller scale but Dune much less so.

You could perhaps argue I spose the whole thing might be best suited for a very high end TV/Net series.