At a recent DGA panel for “Dune: Part Two,” Denis Villeneuve and Christopher Nolan spoke at length about the film, and its making. It’s all part of the big awards campaign Warner Bros has in store for ‘Dune 2,’ with the goal of earning Oscars.
Nolan obviously had nothing but praise for the film. It’s no secret that he’s a major fan of what Villeneuve has accomplished in this film, and his backing will surely help its inevitable road to multiple Oscar nods:
It’s a miraculous job of adaptation. Taking the second half and making an incredible conclusion to the story […] What a remarkable piece of work.
Villeneuve had screened “Dune: Part II” for Nolan, well in advance of its release, with Nolan comparing it to the most popular sci-fi franchise in history.
If, to me, Dune was like “Star Wars”, then “Dune 2” is “The Empire Strikes Back,” which is my favorite ‘Star Wars’ film. I think it’s just a great expansion of all that was introduced in the first one
What I was really struck by is the sense of immersion in that world… It’s a film that has so many unique images - so many things you’ve never seen before, in this movie, time after time - and I was so struck by the detail of everything.
It should be noted that there probably aren’t two more popular filmmakers out there for populist filmmaking at the moment. More recently, Rotten Tomatoes asked their readers to vote for the Best Director of The Last 25 Years; the results had Nolan easily winning, and Villeneuve finishing in second place. Close to 30,000 users participated in the final round of voting.