Denis Villeneuve’s highly-anticipated “Dune” adaptation will finally premiere at the Venice Film Festival following its push-back to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The big-budget sci-fi epic toplining Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya will premiere in Venice out-of-competition on September 3.
“Dune” is an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 science fiction bestseller about young Paul Atreides (Chalamet), a scion of the noble House of Atreides, tasked with overseeing the barren desert planet Arrakis, also known as Dune.
The Chicago Tribune has dubbed Herbert’s novel “One of the monuments of modern science fiction.” The book also tied with “The Immortal” for the Hugo Award in 1966 and won the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel.
Produced by Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, the reboot also stars Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Sharon Duncan Brewster, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Chang Chen, David Dastmalchian, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa and Javier Bardem.
The film’s composer, Hans Zimmer, is a well-known staple of the film scoring industry, and his acclaimed résumé includes films like “Inception,” “Interstellar” and the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series.
Director Villeneuve was also at the helm for science-fiction blockbusters “Arrival” and “Blade Runner 2049.” He recently joined film-powerhouse Christopher Nolan in criticizing HBO Max for their exclusive streaming deals.
“With this decision, AT&T has hijacked one of the most respectable and important studios in film history. There is absolutely no love for cinema, nor for the audience here,” Villeneuve wrote in a column for Variety. “It is all about the survival of a telecom mammoth, one that is currently bearing an astronomical debt of more than $150 billion.”
Following its premiere at the festival, “Dune” is scheduled for a simultaneous release in theaters via Warner Bros. and on HBO Max on October 1.
