Denis Villeneuve has a simple response for Quentin Tarantino recently saying that he refuses to watch Dune.
Just last month, Quentin Tarantino shared a few hot takes on recent movies, including his refusal to watch Denis Villeneuveβs Dune because heβs already seen David Lynchβs version. βI saw [David Lynchβs] Dune a couple of times,β Tarantino said. βI donβt need to see that story again. I donβt need to see spice worms. I donβt need to see a movie that says the word βspiceβ so dramatically.β
Villeneuve recently took part in a Q&A at Concordia Universityβs Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema in Montreal, where he had a simple response to Tarantinoβs refusal to watch Dune. βI donβt care,β Villeneuve said, which prompted the audience to erupt in laughter. However, he did agree with Tarantino in one area. βI agree with him that I donβt like this idea of recycling and bringing back old ideas,β he said. βBut where I disagree is that what I did was not a remake. Itβs an adaptation of the book. I see this as an original.β Villeneuve then added, βBut we are very different human beings.β
I would say Tarantino is missing out. While Lynchβs movie and Villeneuveβs movies do share the same source in Frank Herbertβs novel, they are very different animals.
βItβs one after another of this remake and that remake,β Tarantino said. βPeople ask have you seen βDuneβ? Have you seen βRipley?β Have you seen βShΕgunβ?β And Iβm like no, no, no, no. Thereβs six or seven Ripley books. If you do one again, why are you doing the same one that theyβve done twice already? Iβve seen that story twice before, and I didnβt really like it in either version, so Iβm not really interested in seeing it a third time. If you did another story, that would be interesting enough to give it a shot anyway.β
As for Dune, Villeneuve is set to return to Arrakis for a third installment of the franchise. However, heβs said that he doesnβt view Dune 3 as the completion of a trilogy. βFirst, itβs important that people understand that for me, it was really a diptych,β Villeneuve said. βIt was really a pair of movies that will be the adaptation of the first book. Thatβs done and thatβs finished. If I do a third one, which is in the writing process, itβs not like a trilogy. Itβs strange to say that, but if I go back there, itβs to do something that feels different and has its own identity.β
