Dune Director David Lynch Has “Zero Interest” In Seeing Denis Villeneuve’s Adaptation
Dune director David Lynch recently detailed that he has “zero interest” in seeing Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel.
Lynch was asked about Villeneuve’s Dune in a wide-ranging interview about what the director is up to during coroanvirus lockdown and where he sees society moving following the pandemic.
The Hollywood Reporter’s (THR) Seth Abramovitch asked Lynch if he had seen the photos from Villeneuve’s Dune that were released via Vanity Fair last week.
Lynch responded, “I have zero interest in Dune.”
When asked why, he explained, “Because it was a heartache for me. It was a failure and I didn’t have final cut. I’ve told this story a billion times.”
He added, “It’s not the film I wanted to make. I like certain parts of it very much — but it was a total failure for me.”
Lynch has told this story quite often. As part of the Great Directors documentary film, Lynch talked about the failure of the film.
In the documentary, Lynch states, “Dune, it wouldn’t be fair to say it was a total nightmare. But, maybe 75% nightmare. And the reason is, I didn’t have final cut.”
He elaborated, “I had such a great time in Mexico City, greatest crew, cast; it was beautiful. But why did I do it? I don’t know. But when you don’t have final cut, total creative freedom, you stand to die the death. Die the death. And died I did.”
However, when Lynch was pressed on whether or not he would be interested in seeing someone else adapt Dune by THR, Lynch responded, “I said I’ve got zero interest.”
Villeneuve’s Dune has already made it clear it will be making some significant changes to Herbert’s source material. The most notable change is the casting of Sharon Duncan Brewster as Liet Kynes, which race swaps and gender swaps the character.
Not only has the character been race swapped and gender swapped, but Brewster indicates the changes were done because Villeneuve “wanted to write the role for a woman” and that “there was a lack of female characters in his cast.”
She told Vanity Fair, “What Denis had stated to me was there was a lack of female characters in his cast, and he had always been very feminist, pro-women, and wanted to write the role for a woman.”
She elaborated, “This human being manages to basically keep the peace amongst many people. Women are very good at that, so why can’t Kynes be a woman? Why shouldn’t Kynes be a woman?”
Rebecca Ferguson, who plays Lady Jessica and the mother of Paul Atreides, also hinted at Villeneuve’s film pushing a feminist message when she stated, “Denis was very respectful of Frank’s work in the book, [but] the quality of the arcs for much of the women have been brought up to a new level. There were some shifts he did, and they are beautifully portrayed now.”
Villeneuve’s Dune is still expected to be released on December 18, 2020.
What do you make of Lynch’s comments? Do you have any interest in seeing Villeneuve’s Dune?
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