ABU DHABI: Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” sci-fi epic will return for round two when it hits cinemas in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East on Feb. 29.
Ahead of the worldwide release of “Dune: Part Two,” the film’s director and cast members Josh Brolin and Dave Bautista visited Abu Dhabi – where they shot extensively in the Empty Quarter – for a regional premiere.
Filmmaker Denis Villeneuve poses for photographers in the Abu Dhabi desert. (Photo by Mohammed Fawzy/Arab News)
Villeneuve told Arab News: “The surprise we had every morning when we were waking up and seeing the way the sunlight was hitting the sand dunes a different way with the mists surrounding us, it was always magical.”
The UAE capital’s desert landscape was used to mimic the planet Arrakis, where most of the movie’s story unfolds.
“I was also really impressed by the logistics of the crew from Abu Dhabi. They created roads and paths in the desert to allow us in the areas that I wanted to go,” he said.
Timothee Chalamet as Paul Atreides and Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck in ‘Dune: Part Two.’ (Supplied)
US actor Brolin said: “Because we were so far away, we were two-and-a-half hours outside of Abu Dhabi in the middle of nowhere. You feel insignificant when you show up, you know, you feel it’s very consuming.
“And there’s something about the humility that creates, whereby the time you leave, you’re like crying and you don’t want to leave. I feel the same way now, just showing up here. Again, it just all comes back. It was a really powerful place.”
Dave Bautista as Rabban Harkonnen in ‘Dune: Part Two.’ (Supplied)
Bautista, who previously worked with Villeneuve on “Blade Runner 2049” as well as “Dune: Part One” — which won six Academy Awards in 2022 — noted that living in the world of “Dune” had given him the opportunity to learn from one of the industry’s top filmmakers.
He said: “As a performer, my favorite thing about ‘Dune’ is working with Denis and working with my amazing co-stars. I think Denis has a knack for bringing out the best in me as a performer.
“And so, I always look forward to that because I still have that chip on my shoulder where I want to prove that I can be a great actor. I can’t prove that to myself if I don’t have someone like Denis that’s bringing out the performance in me.
“This is why I like to work constantly because I want to become better and better. And I’m an on-the-job learning actor. I’d love to learn from my peers or learn from great directors.
“So, I feel like I’ve become a stronger performer every time I complete a job, especially when I get to work with people, at such a high level, this stuff brings out the best in me,” Bautista added.
Timothee Chalamet as Paul Atreides and Zendaya as Fremen warrior Chani in ‘Dune: Part Two.’ (Supplied)
Brolin, who plays Gurney Halleck – a mentor and friend to lead star Timothee Chalamet’s Paul Atreides in the film – was more taken by the sci-fi elements of the flick, having grown up devoring similar stories.
He said: “I think that early on, when I grew up on a ranch, I read (US author and screenwriter) Ray Bradbury and (American writer) Isaac Asimov and it just exploded my brain, and I was so happy that I didn’t have to live always in the reality of what was happening around me.
“So, it’s great to be able to go back into it because I read ‘Dune’ when I was probably 16. And it was just along those same lines. It was like a graduation return of the ultimate kind of experience and to be able to be given the opportunity to kind of lose yourself.
“But I don’t feel like it’s a losing yourself. I feel like you are finding parts of yourself that you wouldn’t know you know, through a story like this,” Brolin added.
“Dune: Part Two” is the conclusion to Frank Herbert’s seminal 1965 novel. The film follows Atreides as he seeks to unite the native Fremen people of Arrakis against the tyranny of House Harkonnen, who murdered his entire Great House.
The film also stars Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Stellan Skarsgard, Javier Bardem, Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Christopher Walken, and Lea Seydoux in key roles.
