Dune (2020) - Denis Villeneuve

X-post from the HBO max thread, DV isn't a happy man

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/dune-denis-villeneuve-blasts-warner-bros-1234851270/

I learned in the news that Warner Bros. has decided to release “Dune” on HBO Max at the same time as our theatrical release, using prominent images from our movie to promote their streaming service. 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. It is all about the survival of a telecom mammoth, one that is currently bearing an astronomical debt of more than $150 billion. Therefore, even though “Dune” is about cinema and audiences, AT&T is about its own survival on Wall Street. With HBO Max’s launch a failure thus far, AT&T decided to sacrifice Warner Bros.’ entire 2021 slate in a desperate attempt to grab the audience’s attention.
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Once the pandemic is over, theaters will be filled again with film lovers.

That is my strong belief. Not because the movie industry needs it, but because we humans need cinema, as a collective experience.
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Cinema experience for me is all movie dependent, 95% of what i watch doesn't suffer watching at home on even a modest 4k screen. However certain movies, such as Dune in this thread, I absolutely want to see at the cinema for the initial viewing.

Tickets to my local Showcase are less than a tenner, it's 10 minutes down the motorway with ample parking, the seats are leather recliners, it's kept clean and for the most part, most of the other customers are considerate.

Odeon that's a short 5 minute drive from it by contrast is populated by noisy idiots and is barely tidied up at all through the day, the seats albeit being recently refurbished are rock hard static leather bricks :)
 
In the wake of Warner Bros. Pictures’ sudden announcement the other week that its entire 2021 film slate would go day-and-date on HBO Max, there were immediate repercussions.

The news sent much of the industry reeling, but soon many started to get angry. One such group was Legendary, the co-financiers and co-producers of Denis Villeneuve’s lavish “Dune” film adaptation which planned a potential legal challenge.

“Rumors have the solution to that breach being to preserve ‘Dune’ as a traditional theatrical to preserve its franchise potential and since its October 1st release date falls well after the estimated late spring date when Covid vaccines should achieve herd immunity.”
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https://www.darkhorizons.com/dune-may-skip-hbo-max-after-all/

englishpremier said:
TV series took over films long ago. Cheaper to make, better character and story development and there are more marketing and publicity options.
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I definitely agree with most of what you said, the issue with some shows is that you end up with needless filler episodes when there is no real story to be told. Quite a few potentially great TV shows have been sub-par due to this problem, tied into 40/45 minute runtimes and 10/12 episode runs.

A well made film can be tightly edited down to a few hours of greatness, assuming a good director/writer/editor team of course.
 
So with Wonder Woman 1984 being on the usual sites in full 4K high quality within hours of release yesterday, I understand entirely why 'Legendary' are trying to prevent this hitting HBOMax.
 
Steampunk said:
If cinemas had been open, people would have gone there. In the end, Warner Brothers are bleeding money and Time-Warner are 150 Billion dollars in debt. The loans they have taken out to make films are racking up interest, and making some money is better than making no money and going bust. It's difficult to justify the media companies holding their hands out for public bailouts while they won't release their movies to their own streaming services or the 25 percent of cinemas that are open.

If things go streaming only, we may then see end of the blockbuster movie costing hundred of millions of dollars to make, but that's what's going to happen if cinemas go out of business because the film studios won't release anything at this time and risk reducing their profits.
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Agree with all you've said, just feel like we're seeing the death of the blockbuster in slow motion.

While a lot of big budget blockbusters are cookie cutter rubbish, some films lend themselves to that experience and will be sad to see them disappear.
 
mid_gen said:
I mean, it's not going to spoil the story (unless you've been living under a rock) :p
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Oh for sure, I finally read the book last year as well, with Lynch's adapation, the mini series, the games, the recent comics, the story is going to have little, if any surprises.

It's more the aesthetic and presentation of it, I don't want to be overly familiar by the time i've seen it at the cinema. I want a little mystery left to see how one of my favourite directors will portray something that's already got an assortment of adaptions,
 
Despite saying last week I probably wouldn't watch the trailer, i'm absolutely starved of good sci fi at the moment so will probably crumble and watch it.

There is a rumour it might release with the first 10 minutes of the movie.

Quinns Idea's on youtube seems to substantiate that as he posted a video talking about what he saw yesterday.

 
I only picked up on Duncans comment with regards the humour, fits his character I guess.

Also...where the hell is Feyd? Doesn't even seem to be a role credited on IMDB.
 
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gettothechopper said:
maybe saving him for the second film / half?
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Good shout, I wonder where they'll cut this, as original intention was always two movies, I can see snippets from that trailer which fit the 2nd half of the movie/book though.

Or maybe it's going to be a WTF casting moment that they're thoroughly keeping under wraps :D They've got Sting back, lol
 
Makes sense, it is a natural break point in the book. I'll watch the trailer on TV when i get home and try to single out the scenes which appear to be from the 2nd half.

I'd be overjoyed if this was just part 1 though and we got another 2.5/3 hours of the 2nd part of the book.
 
NickK said:
Seems Warner Brothers is annoying the dune fans using the trailer in fair use that are publicising the movie.. simply using the trailer ends up in a copyright strike..

Quinn’s Ideas is an extremely good sci-fi YouTube channel.
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I saw this yesterday from him, it's a real shame, nothing he is doing is damaging the movie, if anything, it's free publicity for WB.

I've seen a lot of extra Dune content via creators on Youtube, his is hands down the best i've come across. Dune is a big universe and my knowledge of it is firmly around the first book, lynch movie, etc. He provides a great fleshing out for someone who hasn't had chance to check out the other books.

He's also got me interested in Hyperion with his videos.

 
We get a hint of the Caladan designs in the teaser with the box scene, it looks vaguely reminiscent of Lynch's Dune but it's such a small glance, it's really hard to tell the overall aesthetic, for that part at least.
 
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