DUNE Cinematographer Says First Film Will Feel Like a Complete Story Despite Two-Movie Plan

Fans have been super pumped about director Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming adaptation of Dune. It’s been confirmed that there will be two films to tell the story, but despite that, the film’s director of photography Greig Fraser has said that the first movie will tell a complete story. During an interview with Collider, he explained:

“It’s a fully formed story in itself with places to go. It’s a fully standalone epic film that people will get a lot out of when they see it. It was quite an adventure visually. It was a beautiful experience making it. The people involved with it, I was overwhelmed. Some of the actors, as well as being insanely talented actors, are just lovely, lovely people who I’ve become very close to since then.”

Villeneuve does still intend on making a second Dune film, but he wanted to make sure that this first movie told a complete story that doesn’t leave the audience on a cliffhanger. You know, just in case the second movie never happens. It’s also smart for the marketing of the film as they won’t have to promote it as the first of a two-part film. Fraser went on to talk about shooting Dune and changing things up from his work on Star Wars projects:

“I had to forget a lot of ‘Star Wars’ when I was making ‘Dune.’ It wasn’t hard, though. Denis and I spoke clearly about how the film should look and should feel, and the formats and this and that, so it was not hard to swerve and change lanes.

“There were some similarities like the deserts. I mean listen, ultimately, I’m positive George Lucas was inspired by ‘Dune’ when he made ‘Star Wars.’ I don’t know if that’s sacrilegious to talk about, but there are a lot of similarities in some areas, so you could tell he was definitely influenced by that. So I had to be careful doing both [‘Dune’ and ‘The Mandalorian’] and not to repeat myself. Also not just for the sake of the movie, but for fun. I hate to do the same thing twice.”

When previously talking about Timothée Chalamet‘s character Paul Atreides, the director offered the following insight:

“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.”

Hopefully we get to see some actual footage from this film soon! Here’s the synopsis for the film:

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.

The film’s cast also includes Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto Atreides, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Rebecca Ferguson as his 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 new Dune reboot is set to land in theaters on December 18th.