Denis Villeneuve doesn’t care that Quentin Tarantino refuses to watch his ‘Dune’ movies.
Denis Villeneuve doesn’t care about Quentin Tarantino's refusal to watch Dune
The ‘Pulp Fiction’ director, 61, recently said he had no intention of seeing the 57-year-old filmmaker’s take on Frank Herbert's sci-fi universe because he had already watched David Lynch’s ‘Dune’ flick and now Villeneuve has insisted Tarantino’s comments don’t bother him because he knows his ‘Dune’ movies aren't simply remakes of the 1984 original.
Speaking to students at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, Villeneuve said of Tarantino’s remark: "I don’t care. It’s true.
"I agree with him that I don’t like this idea of recycling and bringing back old ideas. But where I disagree is that what I did was not a remake. It’s an adaptation of the book. I see this as an original. But we are very different human beings."
Even so, the ‘Blade Runner 2049’ moviemaker insisted Tarantino wasn’t aiming his comments at him directly and was instead criticising Hollywood for focusing on pre-established franchises rather than trying something new.
While he agreed with the ‘Django: Unchained’ filmmaker’s assessment of Hollywood, Villeneuve added he had made his two ‘Dune’ films for himself and was not trying to please studio executives.
He explained: "Honestly I don’t compromise and just make sure that I’m happy.
"You cannot know if it’s going to work. If we knew the recipe, we’d all be billionaires. It’s an art form, so you go with your gut and intuition.
"What I’m saying is that when I make a film, the first person I’m trying to please is me. I made the ‘Dune’ movies for myself."
Currently, Villeneuve is working on the third ‘Dune’ instalment, which will be an adaptation of author Frank Herbert’s 1969 novel ‘Dune Messiah’.
The director recently said he was immersed "deep" into the book - which follows Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) 12 years into his reign as emperor of the known universe when the religious sect he created around himself begins to spiral out of his control - and was now "in the writing zone" for the upcoming blockbuster.