The stills must flow! Earlier this morning, Vanity Fair shared the first look at Timothée Chalamet in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, as baby chosen one TM Paul Atreides as he begins his journey from his home planet of Caladan to the sand planet of Tatooine Arrakis, also known as the titular Dune.
Chalamet also spoke to the publication about signing on to Dune and why the character was so appealing for him:
The immediately appealing thing about Paul was the fact that in a story of such detail and scale and world-building, the protagonist is on an anti-hero’s-journey of sorts. He thinks he’s going to be sort of a young general studying his father and his leadership of a fighting force before he comes of age, hopefully a decade later, or something like that.
And yet, things go so very, very different from what he imagined. The privileged child from a warm household but a cold, dreary planet, the character of Paul is one of science fiction’s most iconic children. Born to Duke Leto and Lady Jessica Atreides (Oscar Isaac and Rebecca Ferguson) the House of Atreides (their name a reference to the cursed Greek family of a similar name), he finds their long-standing rivalry with House Harkonnen deepens when Leto gets control of Arrakis.
The desert planet is one of the most valuable in the universe because it produces Melange, also called spice. Spice is the most essential and valuable commodity in the universe because it helps to make safe interstellar travel and also extends life.
Paul was meant to be born a girl, as a daughter from the Atreides bloodline was a crucial part of the Bene Gesserit breeding program to eventually produce a super-being that was known as the Kwisatz Haderach, the messiah. Jessica, out of love for Leto, decided to give him a male heir in Paul. Paul is therefore born out of love, but with the shadow of a huge destiny over him.
Is he a messiah or a different kind of hero all together?
As a fan of the first book and the world that author Frank Herbert created in it, I’m so looking forward to seeing this movie. Dune is hard to adapt because there’s just so much inside of one book, and pulling it all off requires a big special effects budget. I think it’s the kind of book that needs a clear vision and money behind it, which looks like we may actually get it with Villeneuve’s vision.
Dune is still set to open on December 18 at this point, despite the coronavirus outbreak. “Dune was made by people from all over the world. Many of these people are like family to me, and they’re very much in my thoughts,” Villeneuve said. “I’m so proud to showcase their hard work. I look forward to a time when we can all get together again as Dune was made to be seen on the big screen.”
Vanity Fair says they’ll have another piece about the upcoming film tomorrow, which will explore how Villeneuve brought this book, with some very messy adaptation, to life with an A-list cast and a budget that may finally make you believe that the spice must flow.
(via io9, image: Warner Bros.)
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