Steven Spielberg fanboys out over ‘Dune: Part Two’
If the $579 million at the box office and 93% Rotten Tomatoes score weren’t enough, Quebecois director Denis Villeneuve got one of the greatest boosts one can receive in his field. None other than Steven Spielberg, who knows a thing or two about science fiction, interviewed the “Dune: Part Two” director for the DGA’s “Director’s Cut” podcast, and told him “you have made one of the most brilliant science fiction films I’ve ever seen.”
The creator of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” continued by extolling Villeneuve’s “world-building” prowess, by placing him on a Mount Olympus with several other greats. “Starting with [Georges] Méliès and Disney and Kubrick, George Lucas. Ray Harryhausen, I include in that list. Fellini built his own worlds. Tim Burton. Obviously Wes Anderson, Peter Jackson, James Cameron, Christopher Nolan, Ridley Scott, Guillermo del Toro. The list goes on but it’s not that long of a list, and I deeply, fervently believe that you are one of its newest members,” he gushed.
The three-time Oscar-winning director then started acting like so many of us did outside the theater after watching “Dune: Part Two”: by babbling about his favorite part. He explained that even though Arrakis is a desert planet, water imagery is found everywhere. “The sandworms were like sea serpents. And that scene surfing the sandworms is one of the greatest things I have ever seen. Ever! But you made the desert look like a liquid,” he rejoiced. It’s nice that Spielberg has been at this job for close to 55 years and can still get so excited.
“Dune: Part One” was released in September 2021, primed for an awards campaign. Despite the sequel’s release in March (due to a delay caused by the SAG-AFTRA strike) one should still expect the Timothée Chalamet-led spectacle to do well with nominations. The first chapter received 10 nominations, including Best Picture for producers Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, and Villeneuve, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts, and Villeneuve. It won six Oscars in total, for Best Visual Effects, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography (for Greig Fraser), Best Film Editing, Best Sound, and Best Original Score going to Hans Zimmer, his second such win after “The Lion King” and 10 other nominations.
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