This Huge New Featurette About Dune Will Get You Pumped Up For The Epic Film
Audiences are mere weeks away from finally getting to see director Denis Villeneuve's big-screen adaptation of the Frank Herbert sci-fi epic "Dune." Naturally, the question on every "Dune" fan's mind right now is: Can Villeneuve succeed where arguably no one has before? The enormity of the worlds, dynasties, and scope showcased in Herbert's original novel is so immeasurable that the book has long been considered to be impossible to adapt. Alejandro Jodorowsky tried and failed to get his "Dune" adaptation made back in the 1970s and David Lynch's 1984 film was a box office failure when it was released.
Villeneuve's "Dune" already has a number of things going for it that previous adaptations did not, including a large blockbuster budget. However, in addition to the incredible cast that's been assembled for it, the film's incredible cinematography and look already has fans considering braving the outside world for a theatrical viewing of "Dune."
In a new featurette for the film, fans have been given a behind-the-scenes look at "Dune" that offers some new insight into what it was like to work in the film's incredible, awe-inspiring sets.
Get a new look at Dune's impressive practical sets and locations
In the opening moments of the latest "Dune" featurette, star Oscar Isaac (who plays Duke Leto Atreides) describes the film as "pure cinema," while Denis Villeneuve calls it "the most ambitious movie I've ever done," which says a lot coming from the director behind films like "Blade Runner 2049" and "Arrival." Fortunately, the new "Dune" featurette makes it explicitly clear just how honest Villeneuve is being when he says that.
"I wanted to shoot as much as possible on camera," says Villeneuve, and it becomes clear throughout the featurette just how committed the director was to that shooting style. The featurette shows pieces of some of the film's original concept art before revealing the enormous physical sets that were constructed for it. "We built sets to the edges of the stages," reveals the film's director of photography, Greig Fraser. The featurette then shifts its focus to highlight the desert locations that parts of the film were shot on, revealing just how many of the exterior sequences in "Dune" were shot in actual, real-life places.
Clocking in at just under three minutes in length, the new "Dune" featurette is, by no means, a detailed and exhaustive look into the making of the film. However, by focusing as much as it does on the film's practical locations and sets, it effectively sells "Dune" as being one of the most expansive and immersive blockbusters set to hit theaters this year.
"Dune" will be available in theaters and on HBO Max starting October 22.