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Sci-Fi

Denis Villeneuve is Doing Dune 3 (theverge.com) 72

An anonymous reader writes: Variety reports that following the massive box office success of Dune: Part Two, Legendary has tapped Denis Villeneuve for a third installment that would presumably continue the story of how Paul Atreides goes on to conquer the galaxy. Earlier this year, Villeneuve told Empire that he had already "put words on paper" thinking about where he would like to take the Dune franchise going forward. Legendary has yet to announce any sort of timeline for when production on Dune 3 might begin. But the studio intends for the movie to debut before its next project with Villeneuve -- an adaptation of Nuclear War: A Scenario, Annie Jacobsen's 2024 Pulitzer Prize-nominated nonfiction book about how nuclear war scenarios would likely play out.
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Denis Villeneuve is Doing Dune 3

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  • by Brain-Fu ( 1274756 ) on Friday April 05, 2024 @09:22AM (#64372238) Homepage Journal

    He already veered away from the books more than I would like. I understand that he must, because the books are very hard to adapt to film. I just hope he keeps that under control and sticks with Frank Herbert's vision, rather than injecting too much of his own.

    • by Echoez ( 562950 ) * on Friday April 05, 2024 @10:41AM (#64372488)

      I disagree. I think most of the changes (like the lack of Alia being born, or the death of the Baron) were all handled well.

      I think this is probably the last Dune movie to ever be made. Personally, I hope he creates some sort of epic 3 hour that takes bit and pieces from books 2, 3 and 4. I think an ending showing the God Emperor of Dune with Duncan next to him would be a crazy way to finish up.

      Book 2 is kinda not great, and not much happens. I hope he goes crazy.

      • I didn't understand the changes. I can see having to cut the first Leto II's brief and tragic existence.for time, but I'm flummoxed by the massive change to Alia.
        • by flink ( 18449 )

          Same, especially since he plans on going past the end of the first book. She's massively important in the next two books.

          • There is at least one scene in the later books that would be outright illegal to put on film. Depending on how far out the story goes, some cleaning-up is simply required.

            On the other hand, making up his own story instead of telling the original stories is just appropriation. It is a temptation for everyone in a creative roll, it is natural for them to want to tell their own stories. Well that's fine, so long as you call it something original and make it completely your own story. If the primary pull of

            • If you're referring to what I *think* you are (It's been a long time since I've read the novels. I'm actually about halfway through a post-DV re-read of the first.) there's a fairly easy fix. He'd just have to the same as the SciFi adaptation: age up Leto II and Ghanima to take away the squick factor. Problem solved.

            • On the other hand, making up his own story instead of telling the original stories is just appropriation.

              It's his job. He's not there to translate the book into a movie, he's there to adapt it. If you're looking for a translation of a book to the big screen you'd better just stick to books.

              Like a lot of things in life nobody cares as long as you do a good job. Dune the book is good, but a story based on Dune can also be good, and in this case it was a great sci-fi film in a sea of awful sci-fi films. Let's be thankful, and hope for more from this director.

    • by pz ( 113803 )

      I read Dune back in the day, and, given its presence on my bookshelf, I also read Dune: Messiah, but I'm not convinced that I read it to completion. Perusing the summary of the series of books on Wikipedia, it seems that while the first one was well-written, despite relying on a little more fantasy than I'd prefer, as you go from one book to the next, the level of absurdity ratchets up well into the realm of self-parody.

      • by jhecht ( 143058 )
        I got through two or three of the original books, mostly in the Analog serial version, before I got bored and went off to read something else.
      • Dune Messiah is a fine book. It basically debunks the whole premise in Dune where you would be deluded into thinking that Paul Atreides is some kind of savior figure.

        But it can fit into a single movie. I hope they don't water it down trying to make it into two movies like was done with the Hobbit movies.

      • by BigFire ( 13822 )

        Dune Messiah was written because Frank Herbert realized that a lot of people didn't understand the intent of Dune (Charismatic Leader should come with warning label). So this much shorter sequel and Children of Dune drive that home. God Emperor of Dune is just logical conclusion of the mechanization of the first trilogy.

    • In the end adapting and improving books for movies/TV (than books) is always the right thing to try.

      For example, many Tolkien fans loudly complained (myself included here on Slashdot back in 2001) about The Fellowship of the Ring and Peter Jackson turning Arwen into Xena warrior princess and ditching Tom Bombadill outright. Twenty three years on, it's hard to even imagine the book's version of the Nazgul/river events - and in hindsight, Tolkien himself would've at least considered Jackson's changes if he'd

    • by nomadic ( 141991 )

      Up until volume 3 at least. After that, Herbert kind of went off the rails.

      • by msk ( 6205 )

        Up until volume 3 at least. After that, Herbert kind of went off the rails.

        Herbert's own books are still worlds better than what his son and his son's collaborator wrote.

    • He already veered away from the books more than I would like. I understand that he must, because the books are very hard to adapt to film. I just hope he keeps that under control and sticks with Frank Herbert's vision, rather than injecting too much of his own.

      I read somewhere that modern fantasy/SF authors like JK Rowling and George R. R. Martin grew up with television and movies. As such their writing reflects stories told in those mediums, they're more visual, driven by plot and character personalities, and generally easy to adapt.

      Authors from the pre-television era don't have the same influences, the books are less visual, more introspective, and generally much harder to adapt.

    • He already veered away from the books more than I would like.

      If you want a painfully boring movie that serves no good payoff to the story, then yeah I can imagine departing from the books is not to your liking. The world building of Dune was always great, but the reality is ... the books are really not that good.

      I am actually quite happy that he deviated. It made for a far more compelling film than the 1984 version which was far more faithful to the books.

  • by Dan East ( 318230 ) on Friday April 05, 2024 @09:23AM (#64372242) Journal

    Paul Atreides goes on to conquer the galaxy

    Gee, thanks. They might as well not even make the movie now.

    • haha - was about to post the same thing!

    • by skam240 ( 789197 )

      It's not any where near as much of a spoiler as it seems like if Villeneuve goes by the books at all. To explain I'd have to tell you what the second book is about which might wonder too far into spoiler territory for you so I'll just leave you with that.

      • Actually it would be a spoiler if true - for how much it would not follow the books, seeing as Paul Atreides does not conquer the galaxy (see books 3/4 for who does)

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by skam240 ( 789197 )

          Spoiler
          https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/D... [fandom.com]
          "Twelve years after the events described in Dune, Paul Atreides rules as Emperor of the Known Universe, following Muad'Dib's Jihad which he unleashed by accepting the role of Mahdi to the Fremen. While Paul is the most powerful Emperor ever, he is ironically powerless to stop the lethal religious excesses of the juggernaut he has created."

          Maybe it's been a while since you read the books...

        • Actually it would be a spoiler if true - for how much it would not follow the books, seeing as Paul Atreides does not conquer the galaxy (see books 3/4 for who does)

          Paul definitely conquered the galaxy. He was just unwilling to complete the golden path which would have required him to become a brutal tyrant. So we left for the desert and his kids completed the golden path.

      • by nomadic ( 141991 )

        Fortunately books 4-6 can't be spoiled because they're gibberish and nobody understands them.

      • Dune Messiah was published in 1969. I think five and a half decades is more than long enough for a no-spoilers blackout. Honestly though, I think Messiah was the weakest entry of the (real, actually written by Frank Herbert) Dune saga. And it really doesn't work, IMO, without following up immediately with Children of Dune. That said, I really do with Villeneuve the best. His movies were excellent, and I'd *really* like to see him do God Emperor, Heretics, and Chapterhouse.

    • That is something made clear close to page 1 of Dune: Messiah. The galactic jihad serves as a backdrop in the novel, but doesn't really directly impact the plot at all. It's a bit like the trade embargo in Phantom Menace.

    • by flink ( 18449 )

      There is a time skip between books 1 and 2. It's taken as a given that he has conquered the galaxy from the very start. It's also strongly foreshadowed throughout book 1.

    • by Toad-san ( 64810 )

      Yeah, sheesh, what a spoiler! At least he's getting around to it faster in the movies than in the books. Man, I was REALLY getting tired of that series when I finally finished it. Or did I just give up on it? Can't remember, not interested enough to find out.

    • Heh, if you think Dune spoilers are bad, imagine how Paul feels.

  • Anybody read "Nuclear War: A Scenario"? I looked it up online and found issues in just the first few paragraphs of a review

    (Spoiler Warning)
    https://www.theguardian.com/bo... [theguardian.com]
    "North Korea, perhaps convinced it is about to be attacked, launches a surprise missile strike against the US, leading Washington to respond with a salvo of 50 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). These are aimed at North Korea’s weapons sites and command centres, but in order to reach their intended targets t

    • Nevermind also the nuclear submarines that are patrolling the Pacificâ¦
    • by Strider- ( 39683 )

      The idea that our nuclear response aimed at North Korea would go over Russia is absurd. It's incredibly likely we have tons of nukes in Alaska, why wouldnt we launch from there? Shorter route and doesnt go over nuclear armed adversarial nations.

      Uh, because there aren't any significant ones there? One of the things about MAD and the game theory behind all the various treaties is that the location of the major weapons systems are known, with the exception of the submarine forces. The minuteman silos are all in the continental US, and yes, the great circle route to get to North Korea goes over Russia.

      The real question is why they wouldn't have used submarine based missiles.

      • by skam240 ( 789197 )

        Oh c'mon, you honestly think we wouldnt station nukes in the most isolated part of our country that also happens to be the closest spot geographically to our two main adversaries (China and Russia) and try to keep that secret? It would be incredibly stupid if we didnt have nukes there, a quick trip over the pole and you can hit any target in Russia and China is awfully close as well.

        But yeah, sure. Submarine based nukes work for this argument as well.

        • by necro81 ( 917438 )

          Oh c'mon, you honestly think we wouldnt station nukes in the most isolated part of our country that also happens to be the closest spot geographically to our two main adversaries (China and Russia) and try to keep that secret? It would be incredibly stupid if we didnt have nukes there, a quick trip over the pole and you can hit any target in Russia and China is awfully close as well.

          Oh c'mon: you honestly think we could possibly have kept that a secret for decades?

          Two strategic reasons why we don't ha

          • by skam240 ( 789197 )

            Alaska is just in too good of a spot for me to find what you're saying likely. If we're going to have land based nukes at all, Alaska is by far the best location for them. Unless they're being specifically targeted there's zero chance of any being knocked out as there's just nothing in the Northern areas of Alaska to target and as I was getting at before it's too good of a launch site for going after our traditional adversaries to pass up. Nukes in Alaska would be able to hit China or Russia in half the tim

            • by necro81 ( 917438 )

              Unless they're being specifically targeted...

              Nuclear missile silos are targeted by our adversaries. That's a given. In the madness of MAD, the idea is to try to neutralize your adversaries' counter-strike capability with a quick first strike.

              Alaska is just in too good of a spot for me to find what you're saying likely.

              Geographically it makes sense. Due to that proximity Alaska is a key part of early warning radar, interceptor aircraft, and anti-ballistic missile deployments. In times past, bomber-bas

      • The real question is why they wouldn't have used submarine based missiles.

        The US does not rely on MAD with North Korea (unlike Russia). With North Korea, there's no need to use nuclear weapons at all. Most of North Korea's airforce is from the 1950s.

    • by kaoshin ( 110328 )
      I am not a rocket scientist, but I would have thought firing from submarines would be a much faster method of deploying warheads to North Korea.
      • by skam240 ( 789197 )

        Since submarine based nukes are the most hidden and hardest to knock out I find it feasible that land based ones would be used first in a confrontation specifically like this one since once a nuke lands on top of a silo they arent very usable anymore. Better to save the metaphorical ace up ones sleeve for the real threat nations like China or Russia in case they decide to take advantage of the chaos to launch an attack of their own.

        Maybe I'm off on that reasoning though as I'm hardly involved in any of thi

      • by EvilSS ( 557649 )
        Or use B2's, the third leg of the triad and the least likely to spook Russia since they don't trigger IR sats watching for ICBM/SLBM launches. We can also fly them out of Missouri and across the pacific without overflying any other country.
        • I think that time was of some essence, because they didn't know if North Korea would continue to fire missiles or barrage Seoul with artillery fire, but yeah, that would have made the most sense.

    • by necro81 ( 917438 )

      Anybody read "Nuclear War: A Scenario"?

      Probably not: it was only officially released about a week ago, 26 March 2024 [google.com].

      Before getting too deep into your critique, though, bear in mind that it's subtitled "A Scenario." Meaning that it's just one of any number that one could game out [youtube.com]. The book is marketed as non-fiction, meaning that the scenario is just a hypothetical that allows the author to explore what current nuclear policy and plans are, in the US and other nuclear powers, based on interviews and

      • She absolutely included plot points that would never have been part of any wargame scenario, some of which bordered or ventured into inanity.

        It would have been just as gripping a book, and perhaps more believable, had her characters been somewhat logical actors.

    • I did read the book, and I found Jacobsen's scenario to be problematic for several reasons (spoilers inbound):

      • The USA's handling of the conflict was a comedy of errors beyond what was believable. They actually lose the president, and then they spend crucial time arguing about protocol afterwards.
      • There was no good reason why the USA's missiles had to fly over Russia. Jacobsen herself makes it clear that the sub fleet would have more than sufficed to reduce all of North Korea to cinder.
      • Russia's steadfast ref
      • by skam240 ( 789197 )

        Thank you! It was kind of annoying all the responses to my post picking apart unimportant minutia in what I said rather than getting info about the book. I suppose there's a flavor of tech head who loves unnecessary levels of minutia though.

        Kind of a bummer to hear your breakdown though. I've become a big fan of Villeneuve and am bummed to find out he's picking up a project like this. Maybe he can spin some movie magic and make the movie make more sense than the book though.

        • You're welcome.

          In case I wasn't entirely clear before, I was pissed off about things like (again, SPOILERS abound):

          USA has been hit by nukes, and the gov't is in total chaos. In response, Russia refuses multiple calls from the acting gov't (both before and after American missiles fly) because the appointment of a new President hasn't happened yet. What?

          A nuke is incoming to the USA's east coast, but the fictitious president keeps on delaying leaving for a secure location. What?

          The fictitious Russian preside

    • It's unlikely that the US would respond to a missile attack by North Korea with imprecise and cruel ICBMs. There are many better options.
  • The second part was so brutally cut into trailers, that almost every significant scene of the movie was spoiled. The movie is a collection of typical templates and absolutely predictable. I could not deep into movie story line and was sitting the entire movie waiting for its end to go home. It worth to be published on Netflix. It is pure copy paste.
    • Spoiled what exactly? All the major plot points (such as the deaths of Harkonnens, overthrow of Empire, the link between the worms and prescience, and everything Alia) were left out of the trailer

      • by skam240 ( 789197 )

        Ha, I was thinking the same thing. "What spoilers?" Since I read the books I wasnt worried about the plot being ruined for me so I watched pretty much every trailer I could find. They didnt show much and did nothing to indicate how the story would end.

        • I don't know but sitting and waiting when the hero would say something from trailer it was nice experience. If you like it then it is good for you, but it was kicking me out of the movie all the time. It leaves with feeling that I saw everything in other movies already, it is good fit for Netflix, they produce a lot of content directly or indirectly coping other ideas, but it does not worth of movie theater. I don't say that Netflix is crappy service, noway, but it is copy paster studio for sure.
          • by skam240 ( 789197 )

            We all have our own tastes of course and in that context I have to go with the masses, I thought both Dune movies were fantastic and far above the quality of the flicks made by streaming companies which are often of low quality. In fact, it's been an awfully long time since I enjoyed a big budget sci fi movie as much as these two.

            I also really liked David Lynch's 80's Dune movie (aside from what he did with the Weirding Way which interestingly enough Villeneuve left out almost entirely) and far more people

            • "Muad'DIB! Muad'DIB!"

              The voice telekinetic guns were absolutely goofy as fuck.

              • by skam240 ( 789197 )

                That part was awfully bad. No idea why one would change the Weirding Way from "badass semi-supernatural martial art" to super awkward sound weapons where the shooters sound like they're yelling "hi-yah" every single time they fire.

                For that matter though I dont know why Villeneuve would leave the Weirding Way out entirely but I suppose that's better than what Lynch did.

            • I liked the first part, it was fine. Nice sci-fi movie we the things we miss in fantasies from marvel people. But the second one has no progress, really, it seems to me they just decided to get more money releasing 2 parts. If they merge both movies into one and cut a lot of annoying and meaningless scenes, nothing would be lost. I don't watch any Star Wars or Marvel movies anymore, and I am not going to next dune as well. The only movie left is Avatar on my list.
          • Well, why then are you sitting there waiting for those lines? You could do that with any movie.

            It almost sounds like you are upset the trailer was actually representative of the movie and didn't try to mislead the audience. Maybe you should avoid trailers if you find that sort of thing to be an issue.

          • by dknj ( 441802 )

            On the other hand, I went to see Starship Troopers explicitly because they were playing Harvey Danger's Flagpole Sitter song in the trailer. This was back when trailers played songs from the movie. I sat through the entire movie waiting to hear the song and never did. I was extraordinarily pissed and never truly appreciated how good the movie was. A few years later I watched it and understood the premise but still carry my extreme anger that I was duped into seeing a B-movie without the actual trailer mu

      • It's also a novel that's over 50 years old. If you haven't read the book by now, I think it's time to hand in your nerd card. I didn't enjoy the LotR trilogy any less because I had previously read the books and knew how it all ended. Good films don't need to rely on the audience not knowing what comes next. They can still create tension even when you know exactly what will happen. Villeneuve is an excellent director and Dune is definitely a film that's enjoyable to watch even if you know precisely what is g
  • if Dune by David Lynch is witty and artistic, this series is just mindless dullness in cinematic desert

  • Part 1 was made without part 2 being greenlit (they wanted to wait for the boxoffie numbers) and apparently part 2 was made more or less the same way. This is a tad annoying to say the least. Are movies going to be like video-games where I wait 18+ months for the fixed, debugged bargain deal gold edition to come out? Or will movies be crowdfunded in the future? Probably a mix of both. We see larger streaming serials becoming flaky and unreliable that way, now movies seem to go there too. ...

    All that aside,

    • by skam240 ( 789197 )

      Part 1 was made without part 2 being greenlit (they wanted to wait for the boxoffie numbers) and apparently part 2 was made more or less the same way. This is a tad annoying to say the least. Are movies going to be like video-games where I wait 18+ months for the fixed, debugged bargain deal gold edition to come out? Or will movies be crowdfunded in the future? Probably a mix of both. We see larger streaming serials becoming flaky and unreliable that way, now movies seem to go there too. ...

      From what I understand the reasoning for at least the gap in production between Dune 1 and 2 is that Villeneuve's Bladerunner sequel massively underperformed at the box office despite being well received critically (I thought the movie was fantastic as well). Basically they wanted to see how the first movie did before green lighting another because they werent confident in Villeneuve enough to give him the budget for both right from the start.

      It is definitely discouraging how risk adverse Hollywood has beco

      • I'm guessing the risk aversion comes from the high price of any modern movie. I'm too lazy to look up average costs but I know they're crazy expensive.
      • I, for one, thought Bladerunner 2049 was awesome through and through.

        One thing I liked about it was how they had dialogue sequences that you really had to think about to understand. They didn't just lay everything out for you like simple action flicks do. I found it way more mentally engaging and that's what I liked about it.

        I read many online comments written by people who didn't like it and from the things they said it was very clear that they didn't understand it (most of them, anyway). They couldn't

      • Yes and no. Sure Villeneuve's Blade Runner didn't help, but the reality is they were never going to greenlight 2 movies at a time regardless of who directed it. Dune was (until Part 1 came out) considered largely "unfilmable" with every release and every story flopping.

  • thinking about where he would like to take the Dune franchise going forward

    He doesn't need to think about it. There are 5 books after Dune that how the story moves forward. (8 if you count the more recent ones written by his son and Kevin Anderson based on notes left by Frank Herbert)

    • by BigFire ( 13822 )

      Many people consider Chapterhouse of Dune the definitive end of Dune. Marty and Daniel are both free willed Facedancers and representation of Frank Herbert and his wife.

  • ...and make a movie based on Frank Herbert's "The Santaroga Barrier".

Heard that the next Space Shuttle is supposed to carry several Guernsey cows? It's gonna be the herd shot 'round the world.

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