Denis Villeneuve Explains That He Spent an Entire Year Perfecting the Sandworm Design in DUNE
The director of the upcoming adaptation of Dune, Denis Villeneuve, wanted to make sure he got every detail right in his movie. If there’s one thing that we know about Villeneuve is that his attention to detail in the films he makes is incredible. One aspect of the story that the filmmaker spent a whole developing was the design of the Shai-Hulud, a.k.a. Sandworm.
The Sandworms are deadly and essential to the ecosystem of the planet of Arrakis and also the narrative of the story. In a recent interview with Empire Magazine, the director discusses how much care went into designing this creature for the film.
"We talked about every little detail that would make such a beast possible, from the texture of the skin, to the way the mouth opens, to the system to eat its food in the sand. It was a year of work to design and to find the perfect shape that looked prehistoric enough."
I’m excited to see what these Sandworms look like! I’m sure we’ll get a first look at them soon as we’ve seen a lot of images being released for the film recently. This is the story description that was shared for the movie:
A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.
When previously talking about Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his story arc, the director compared him to Michael Corleone from The Godfather, saying:
“Paul has been raised in a very strict environment with a lot of training, because he's the son of a Duke and one day... he's training to be the Duke. But as much as he's been prepared and trained for that role, is it really what he dreams to be? That's the contradiction of that character. It's like Michael Corleone in The Godfather – it's someone that has a very tragic fate and he will become something that he was not wishing to become.”
The film’s cast also includes Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto Atreides, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Rebecca Ferguson as Paul’s mother Jessica, Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, Stellan Skarsgard as Baron Harkonnen, Zendaya as Chani, Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, Javier Bardem as Stilgar, Charlotte Rampling as Reverend Mother Mohiam, David Dastmcalchian as Piter De Vries, Chang Chen as Dr. Yueh, and Dave Bautista as the Baron’s nephew Rabban.
The first of the two-part Dune film will be released on December 18th, 2020.