Lifestyle
Storyboarding 'Dune' since he was 13, Denis Villeneuve is 'still pinching' himself
Rebecca Ferguson is Lady Jessica, mother to Paul Atreides, in Dune: Part Two.
Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures
hide caption
toggle caption
Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures
Rebecca Ferguson is Lady Jessica, mother to Paul Atreides, in Dune: Part Two.
Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures
After much anticipation and delay, Dune: Part Two is in theaters March 1. It’s been a long time coming for Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, who remembers reading Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi novel Dune for the first time when he was 13.
“The idea that a boy finds home in another culture, that he feels comfortable in a foreign country — that really moved me at that time,” Villeneuve says.
As a kid, Villeneuve dreamed of making Dune into a movie. He and his best friend would write and draw stories from the book. Then, in 1984, David Lynch’s adaptation of Dune came out, and Villeneuve felt excited — but also slightly unsatisfied.
“There were some choices that were very far from my sensibility,” he says. “I remember watching the movie, saying to myself, someday someone else will do it again.”
Villeneuve went on to become a filmmaker himself, with a string of successful hits, including Arrival, Blade Runner 2049 and Sicario. He was drawn to science fiction, which he describes as a “very poetic way” to digest and explore reality.
Throughout his career, Villeneuve kept expecting someone to revisit Dune — he just never imagined he would be the filmmaker tasked with the project.
“I’m still pinching myself,” he says, of making Dune: Part One, which came out to critical and commercial success in 2021, and now Dune: Part Two.
Villeneuve describes Dune: Part One as a meditative film, centering on Paul Atreides, a young man (played by Timothée Chalamet) who finds himself stranded on a strange planet after his father is murdered by a rival family. In Dune: Part Two, the character becomes more active, taking control of his own destiny. “The second movie was meant to be more of an action movie,” Villeneuve explains.
Timothée Chalamet and Denis Villeneuve confer on the set of Dune: Part Two.
Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures
hide caption
toggle caption
Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures
Timothée Chalamet and Denis Villeneuve confer on the set of Dune: Part Two.
Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures
Interview highlights
On why he prefers as little dialogue as possible
If I could’ve made movies without any dialogue, it would have been paradise. Dialogue for me belongs to theater or television. I’m not someone who remembers movies because of their lines. I remember movies because of their images, because of the ideas that unfold through images. That’s the power of cinema. For me, it’s not about dialogue. I hope one day I will be able to make a movie with as little dialogue as possible. That’s why silent movies were so powerful and … still today, the best movies. Normally, a great movie — you should be able to watch it without sound. And that’s the ultimate goal.
On the complications of shooting in the desert with hundreds of crew members
The heat was our enemy. I mean, there was a period of time in the middle of the day where it was the soup mode, you felt that your brain was cooking. I had to bring the crew away from the sun in the middle of the day. … I wanted to shoot the movie as much with natural light as possible. We shot exclusively with natural light in the desert, which meant that, in order to make no compromise aesthetically, it drove my first assistant crazy because it meant that you had to, according to sun positions, deconstruct the whole shooting schedule according to the sun’s position. And that was for my senior cinematographer and for the actors [and I] quite a crazy puzzle.
“I was in love with the idea that you could know the presence of the sandworms just by seeing suddenly the landscape shifting in the distance,” Dune filmmaker Denis Villeneuve says.
Warner Bros. Pictures
hide caption
toggle caption
Warner Bros. Pictures
“I was in love with the idea that you could know the presence of the sandworms just by seeing suddenly the landscape shifting in the distance,” Dune filmmaker Denis Villeneuve says.
Warner Bros. Pictures
On figuring out how to portray the desert tribespeople known as the Fremen riding sandworms
I was in love with the idea that you could know the presence of the sandworms just by seeing suddenly the landscape shifting in the distance. You didn’t hear [anything], but just suddenly a sand dune appeared. I absolutely love how it’s more frightening not seeing the beast than actually seeing it. Jaws was a very important reference for the sandworm.
This moment where someone rides a sandworm, it’s a very important moment in the book, but it’s kind of suggested. … [But it’s] quite vague how you actually get on the worm. So that was one of the first things I had to do [was] decide how I will make this believable. … First of all, I had to decide to think about the behavior of the beast. For me a sandworm is a powerful creature, but it’s a very shy creature … it’s a creature that doesn’t want to be at the surface … a creature from the underground. It wants to expose itself as little as possible. …
I studied extreme sports, like people who are jumping on skis … or a motorbike racer. And so I designed the way someone could jump on a worm. I did the diagrams, and I explained that to the crew. [It] was like a seminar where I explained to my crew how to ride the sandworm.
On the sandworm riding scenes requiring their own film unit
I didn’t want to make any compromises. I wanted to be as real as possible. And in order to do that, we had to use the most powerful tool that we had in our hands, which is natural light. It meant that this sequence would be shot over the course of many weeks. In order to do so, I had to figure out a way to split myself, because if I had [filmed] that worm ride myself, I would still be shooting right now. So it meant that I would need to be at two places at the same time. I was directing my main unit [and] there was what we called a worm unit. … That was the most difficult thing for me to do. Because cinema is an act of presence. I’m used to working with one camera at a time. I’m very old fashioned in that regard. And [having] to split myself in two was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done.
On how Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Duel inspired him to become a filmmaker
There was always a name attached to these movies and this name was Steven Spielberg. And then I started to be more interested about what it meant to be a director. At 13 years old or something like, absolutely fascinated by the idea of, the power of, the tool of the camera. I didn’t have any camera in my life, but I was fascinated. There was something so romantic, so powerful about making movies. I became obsessed with the idea of [becoming a] filmmaker
Heidi Saman and Susan Nyakundi produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the web.
Prince on the custom motorcycle featured in Purple Rain.
Cinematic/Alamy
hide caption
toggle caption
Cinematic/Alamy
Wendy Melvoin, guitarist for Prince’s genre bending band The Revolution, remembers one of their most iconic songs started with an idea — and a challenge — from the boss himself.
Prince broached the topic during a band rehearsal. “He came to the table with this beautiful idea … most of the songs [on the album] had already been done,” says Melvoin, “He said ‘I have this idea and sounds a little like this…whattaya you guys got?’”
What Wendy had was an idea for a mournful cascade of guitar chords that proved the perfect starting point.
“I came up with that intro and that chord progression to get us into the song,” she adds. “And it ended up being one of the most iconic intros to a pop ballad ever.”
The song Purple Rain would become the surprising, anthemic climax for a film of the same name that emerged as one of the most successful and influential musical films in history. The movie hit theaters 40 years ago, breaking barriers in the music world while signaling the ascendancy of Prince as a pop music superstar.
Putting Purple Rain on the silver screen
Filmed around the band’s Minneapolis hometown, Purple Rain had a simple story. Prince’s character — known only as The Kid – is rocked by his dad constantly beating his mother at home, struggling to connect with his bandmembers and a new romantic interest, a beautiful singer named Apollonia.
Drummer Bobby Rivkin, known onstage as Bobby Z, says the idea of showcasing Prince’s songs and The Revolution in a film was inspired by the success of MTV and its focus on music videos.
“Prince was always someone who took a step bigger than the cultural [stuff] that was happening at the times,” he adds. “Once MTV started playing his videos, I think he just gravitated to something bigger and said ‘I’ll just take it to the next level.’’”
Melvoin says she and The Revolution — including Rivkin, keyboardists Lisa Coleman and Matt Fink and bassist Brown Mark — found out they would be working on a movie when Prince announced it in a matter-of-fact way at a rehearsal. But she wasn’t worried about whether she could act or how the band would look onscreen.
“I guess if I had any concern back then, it was just literally, ‘was the story going to be any good?’” she says, laughing. “I didn’t have any doubt the music sequences would be fantastic. But I didn’t have a good sense of whether the narrative of the film was going to work.”
Turns out, it all worked pretty well. Purple Rain was a hit, with the film and its soundtrack earning an Oscar, two Grammy awards and status as a groundbreaking musical film.
It also introduced a film audience to Prince’s scorching performance style, his unerring ability to craft hit tunes, and his distinctive fashion sense. Prince’s network of bands and performers also got some attention – including the girl-fronted group Apollonia 6 and the funk band The Time.
The Time lead singer Morris Day and his onstage foil Jerome Benton became the film’s comic center, with the two riffing on a version of Abbott and Costello’s classic routine “Who’s on First?”.
“Honestly, we weren’t trying to be funny … we always clowned around at the time because we were young,” Day says, responding to questions via email. He noted, even though the cast took acting and dance classes in preparation for filming, “we were just being ourselves. If anything, I was more conscious of being cool than funny.”
Morris Day of The Time performs in Chicago in 1983, before Purple Rain came out.
Raymond Boyd/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Raymond Boyd/Getty Images
He’s not surprised people are still talking about the film four decades after its initial release.
“The film was groundbreaking on so many levels … it was the first of its kind,” adds Day, who says he’s only watched the film in its entirety one time, at its Hollywood premiere on July 26, 1984. “It somehow reminds people of a special period in their lives during the ‘80s, which is a period we all at times wish we could reclaim.”
Building the drama in Purple Rain
Fans know the film tells a more combative story behind the genesis of the song Purple Rain.
Onscreen, Melvoin and her then-girlfriend, keyboardist Lisa Coleman write the song, fighting a reluctant Prince – known only as The Kid in the movie – to let The Revolution play it onstage.
“Everytime we give you a song, you say you’re going to use it, but you never do,” Melvoin shouts at Prince during the scene, delivering some of the best acting from the musicians who mostly fill out the cast. “You think we’re doing something behind your back…you’re just being paranoid as usual.”
When Prince finally agrees to play Purple Rain onstage at the Minneapolis club First Avenue – launching into an emotional rendition topped by one of the best guitar solos in pop music – he wows the crowd and saves the band. But Melvoin says now that the friction they acted out was “movie magic” conjured to build a story; in real life, she, Lisa and Prince were very close collaborators.
Prince, alongside Wendy Melvoin (left) and Lisa Coleman (right) accepts Purple Rain‘s Oscar for best original score in 1985.
HARMS/AFP via Getty
hide caption
toggle caption
HARMS/AFP via Getty
Powered by hits like the title track and the percolating dance jam I Would Die 4 U, Purple Rain burst like a lavender-tinged explosion across the pop culture landscape – launching Prince’s growing fame into the stratosphere.
The innovative dance hit When Doves Cry, recorded by Prince with no bass guitar, became his first Number One single on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles list. That was followed by his second Number One single, the rock and soul classic Let’s Go Crazy, which showcased his guitar skills at a time when rock guitar wasn’t heard often on R&B records.
Giving fans a peek behind the mystique
Prince had developed a mystique by rarely talking to the press. So, in the days before YouTube and Tik Tok, Purple Rain offered a sustained – if fictionalized – look at the inner workings of the band and his origin story for fans eager to know more.
And it centered a group of performers who were a mix of identities and ethnicities in the Midwest, making music that crossed all kinds of cultural barriers, at a time when people like that were rarely seen on the silver screen.
“That film was Prince’s version of social media,” Melvoin says. “This is funk rock and nobody’s seen a movie based on this kind of life. It [was] a trip for people to see.”
But there were also criticisms. Many of the film’s performers were amateurs, which showed in their performances. And female characters were often treated badly on screen: in one scene, Jerome Benton gets rid of a hostile woman confronting Day by tossing her into a dumpster.
“Given today’s culture, I’m certain there are moments in the film that ruffle a few feathers,” Day says. “Overall, I would like to think we did something great. And based on the overwhelming majority [of public reaction], I believe we did.”
The film ultimately proved the perfect showcase for Prince’s expansive creativity – from his ruffled shirts and big shouldered clothes to his mix of religion and sexuality in lyrics, innovative ways of recording and his seemingly endless supply of high-quality songs.
Bobby Rivkin, otherwise known as Bobby Z, during a recording session in 1989.
Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
“MTV opened the door a little bit — just a teeny crack of light — and he would kick it open,” Rivkin adds. “He was innovative in fashion and culture. And it was a remarkable time for him. From humble beginnings to control [of] black culture, crossover culture … rock, funk, pop … He was on fire for quite a while.”
Continuing on without the boss
A couple of years and albums later, Prince disbanded The Revolution. But the group has reunited a few times – notably for a benefit concert after Rivkin had his first heart attack in 2010 – and after Prince died in 2016, at age 57 from an accidental fentanyl overdose. More recently, the group came together last month to perform during a five-day event in Minneapolis celebrating Purple Rain’s 40th anniversary.
Both Melvoin and Rivkin say they hope The Revolution can play more shows commemorating Purple Rain’s anniversary over the next year. But they also admit it can be challenging performing without their dynamic leader and frontman, even as playing together helps them process the loss.
“After he passed, it’s the only thing that we could think of to do — to be together and grieve,” Melvoin says.
And what would The Kid himself think about the legacy of his blockbuster film and album? Day says he’s not sure.
“[Prince] never liked staying in the past,” the singer adds. “He was always evolving. Once Purple Rain was done, he was on to the next. But now that I’m thinking about it, he might have thrown a big celebration at Paisley Park for the fans. Probably would have been one hell of a jam session.”
TMZ.com
Josh Flagg says Ben Affleck might actually be putting down roots in Brentwood as opposed to it being a pit stop … telling us he’s heard the guy might be quietly buying a pad there.
We got the ‘Million Dollar Listing’ star at the Plaza Hotel in New York City — and our photog asked him about Ben and Jennifer Lopez publicly listing their Beverly Hills mansion for $68 million … and what the implications for that might be big picture.
Remember … Ben and Jen only just bought the place in 2023, and Josh says the quick flip here makes it look like they are getting divorced … something we’ve been reporting is going to happen for a while now.
We broke the story … Ben and J Lo were quietly trying to sell the estate off-market — but it clearly didn’t work out, and now they’ve going public with the house sale.
TMZ.com
As you know … Ben’s been staying in a Brentwood rental since moving out of the marital Bev Hills mansion, and J Lo’s been spending a lot of time on her own too … first in Europe, and then more recently in New York to celebrate her birthday week.
TMZ Studios
But, get this … Josh says he recently heard Ben was quietly in escrow on something in Brentwood … so BA may not be renting anymore after all — at least that’s what JF’s floating.
As for the Bev Hills mansion — which Ben and Jen paid over $60 million for — Josh explains why Bennifer might not be taking a huge financial hit … although, they definitely ain’t gonna be turning a profit either.
Interesting stuff all around … especially that tidbit about Ben, if it turns out to be right.
Kathleen Hanna of The Julie Ruin performs onstage at the 2016 Panorama NYC Festival – Day 2 at Randall’s Island on July 23, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images)
Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images/Getty Images North America
hide caption
toggle caption
Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images/Getty Images North America
This week’s show was recorded in Chicago with host Peter Sagal, judge and scorekeeper Bill Kurtis, Not My Job guest Kathleen Hanna and panelists Meredith Scardino, Peter Grosz, and Mo Rocca Click the audio link above to hear the whole show.
Who’s Bill This Time
Momala Takes Over; Assigned Seats Are Back; And The Heat Is On
The Olympic Torch Reporch
Our Summer Olympics Preview
Bluff The Listener
Our panelists tell three stories about someone committing an office faux pas, only one of which is true.
Not My Job: We quiz Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna on Hanna-Barbera
Punk icon Kathleen Hanna plays our game called, “Kathleen Hanna Meet Hannah-Barbera.” Three questions about the animation studio.
Panel Questions
Hide Your Receipts; VR Meets ER; Avocado Apologies
Limericks
Bill Kurtis reads three news-related limericks: Situation Room Cocktails; Burrito Bird; Hopped Up Sharks
Lightning Fill In The Blank
All the news we couldn’t fit anywhere else
Predictions
Our panelists predict what will be the big story out of the Paris Olympic Games
Team USA wins its first medal of the Paris Summer Olympics
Nebraska fisherman reels in new fish species in state: 'Bright orange with turquoise'
Cat in Texas weighing 26 pounds is placed on diet after animal rescuers step in
Tennessee girl charged with suffocating cousin, 8, in her sleep after fight over iPhone
Southern California man hospitalized after suspect steals coffee cart, leads police on wild chase
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
At least 2 dead as tornadoes hit Alabama, damage homes across Southeast
Team USA wins its first medal of the Paris Summer Olympics
Trump announces to crowd he 'just took off the last bandage' at faith event after assassination attempt
Where are the world’s millionaires and how is wealth divided globally?
Sonya Massey killing: Black woman died from gunshot wound to head, confirms autopsy; attorney calls shooting 'senseless' – Times of India
Park Police union says officers ‘did everything they could’ during DC anti-Israel riot
-
World1 week agoOne dead after car crashes into restaurant in Paris
-
Midwest1 week agoMichigan rep posts video response to Stephen Colbert's joke about his RNC speech: 'Touché'
-
News1 week agoVideo: Young Republicans on Why Their Party Isn’t Reaching Gen Z (And What They Can Do About It)
-
Movie Reviews1 week agoMovie Review: A new generation drives into the storm in rousing ‘Twisters’
-
Politics1 week agoFox News Politics: The Call is Coming from Inside the House
-
News1 week agoVideo: J.D. Vance Accepts Vice-Presidential Nomination
-
World1 week agoTrump to take RNC stage for first speech since assassination attempt
-
News1 week agoRNC speakers want to separate the president from the person to show softer side of Trump