Fails at the box office or fails to deliver a great movie?

Although I think there's very little chance that it succeeds at the box office, especially given that HBO Max will broadcast it simultaneously, I would be very surprised if Villeneuve fails to deliver a great film.
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Agreed. Has a very good chance of being excellent.

But Dune the property offers little wide commercial appeal.
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Hans is spending more time with his lawyers than he his writing music (which he hasn't done for years, anyway).

He's facing multiple copyright infringement cases, all of which he'll most likely lose, and in a big way.
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Wow, that's news. He's pretty respected, no? Or I guess, was?

And I can't think of Hollywood composers and not think of this





Yes, I'm a child lol
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It's happened twice before but the settlements were kept under wraps.

This time, the infringement is so blatant and so huge that the credits are missing from his new talent agency's website because it's that bad. I've actually been consulting on the case for about a year or so but these things take a lot of time to settle, especially when everyone's working from home, but I doubt there will be any public announcement.

As far as respect? I don't know any more. He's been out touring for the past few years in order to escape his legal and marital troubles (his wife is also suing the fuck out of him). I think that people used to care about his scores but I don't know if that's still the case.

The Oscar debacle surrounding The Dark Knight left a bad taste in people's mouths and outside of Inception, I can't really think of any definitive work he's produced (emphasis on produced because he rarely composes anymore) in the past decade.
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I think I saw where he’s doing the new Top Gun with 80s guy Harold Faltermyer?

But yea, i definitely dig his older 90s stuff rather than his new stuff.
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Jesus, that sounds like a complete cluster of a situation and a human being. Would not have guessed all that was happening.

Well it works for you - enjoy those consulting fees the longer and longer it gets stretched out! :-)
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Thanks, Dude! Unfortunately, I'm doing it Pro Bono for a friend, so no extra dough, but a nice $800 dollar meal at Wolfgang Puck's Cut steakhouse in the Beverly Hills Four Seasons will definitely be in order.

:-)
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Do you feel with the adding of larger names to this film it might attract more followers? Could that be the draw so it is not a flop? Then once drawn into the story a part 2 could be released.

Another question....where do you think they would stop part 1 at if they were going to split this in 2? When Paul drinks the water of life or some other time?
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I like the idea that they're breaking up the story into two movies. One of the numerous failings of the Lynch abortion was trying to compress too much content into too little time.

Seems like they would have been better served to film both parts at once. It obviously would be more economical to continue shooting when everything and everybody is in place, rather than have to wrap and then start all over again. The entire second half of the book (minus Feyd's gladiatorial duel with the Atreides warrior on Giedi Prime) takes place on Arrakis.

If it is good, which despite my extremist nitpicking I think it will be, my biggest fear is that it won't do well enough to rate the conclusion, and that would be a goddamned shame.
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Finally got around to the documentary on Jodowarksi's vision, and as much as there is to admire. In the end we may be glad to have waited.

The good;

the concept of musical artists in the soundtrack tied to the families, Pink Floyd for Atriedes, Magma for Harkonnen, etc.

Many of the casting choices, Dali for emporer, Orson Welles, Mick Jaggar.

The art team, Giger, Moebius, O'Connor, Foss.

There are two things I think that were fatal to the vision. Special effects were not at the right place to give the vision justice yet at that time. Could have been MAYBE as good as SW-ANH, but could have been Zardoz or Flash Gordon, . . . or Lynch's Dune. Also, the baroque and ornate has always, IMO, detracted from the narrative. The visuals should be Bedouin and dusty, practical utilitarian.

The story of Dune is best served by relatable regular people, transformed by environment and hedonism into realistic extensions of people. Fremen should be hardy and powerful but lithe and deprived by eons of moisture scavenging. Baron Harkonnen should be grotesque [he needs gravity assist tech to move around, ferchrissakes], but like a flabby but imposing Colonel Kurtz, not a glistening pitiable monster in a fat suit like Fat Bastard. The spaceships and planetary vehicles should be weathered and utilitarian as well, not ornate artworks that display the creators imagination more than their usefulness.

There is still room for tons of detail, the stitching and drape of costumes. The weathering of tools and weapons and the untold tales they bring to life. But the story is better served by a sense of weather and use, to convey the universal reliability of the fantastical tale. Much like something SW, ESPECIALLY ANH was brilliant at. Malfunctioning service droids and improvised weapons and dark and seedy juke joints and clothes people actually would wear every day of their lives.
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I'll have to give that a look. It was always (and still is) Orson Welles that I picture in my mind's eye as the Baron. His size and rumbling voice fit the character perfectly. I always pictured a 60's era Ernest Borgnine as Halleck.

When it comes to Leto and Paul, I always thought they should be portrayed by the same actor. Even back in the 70's and 80's, this would have been easy enough to pull off with a little makeup and platform shoes to give Leto a little height difference, since they really don't share that many scenes together. In the book, when Gurney first encounters a transformed Paul in the desert his appearance is described as a ghost image of Leto. Chalamet looks nothing like Oscar, just as MacLachlan looked nothing like Prochnow.

Oh well. I was not consulted.
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Just reading it now, at one point Leto thinks to himself when discussing Jessica that she 'brings a regal beauty back to the Atreides line...I'm glad Paul took after her"

If that was the line they focused on, I think it's really good casting. I LOVE Rebecca Ferguson and man she's just a perfect proxy for my mind's eye impression of Lady Jessica. And Chalamet has that same sort of angular, lithe look that she has, along with the darker features of Isaacs.

I'm excited to watch the movie all the way through after finishing the book, I think I'll like it a fair amount more. Though I do agree with you that Brolin is far too athletic and normal looking to be Gurney. Especially with Paul's lines as soon as they get to Arrakis that Gurney is clearly aged and they're putting a lot of faith in the actions of an old man.

Brolin is still youthful and powerful. At least 1/3 of the way through the book, that's not how he's portrayed.
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Keep in mind that the movie only covers the first half of the book.

As for Paul's appearance, IMO he should look more like Leto than Jessica. There is a line later in the book that describes him as looking "like a ghost image of Duke Leto," after he has aged somewhat and spent his days withering in the desert. Had it been up to me, I would have had one actor portray both characters; easy enough to do with aging makeup/prosthetics/lifts.

They definitely fucked up Gurney. Frankly, I think Barden would have been a better Gurney and Brolin a better Stilgar. Hell, Christian Bale would have been awesome as Stilgar.

Like I've said before, I enjoyed it and I recommend it. It's far from perfect, but compared to the odious Lynch offering and the cheap, cheesy Sci-Fi Channel crap, it's Citizen Kane.

The blu ray drops next week. I'm looking forward to watching it again with a more critical eye.
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This is the biggest film of the year. It will do fine if COVID doesn't wreck shit.

The only thing that might steal box office from it is the new Bond film, or possibly Jackass.
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