With director Denis Villeneuve's Dune now playing around the world and streaming for free on HBO Max, I recently got to speak with Dave Bautista and Stellan Skarsgård about making the incredible movie. During the interview, Bautista and Skarsgård talked about the things they kept wanting to tell their friends and family about the film, why they loved working with Villeneuve, how even though Dune takes place on the other side of the galaxy it’s talking about what’s going on today, and how cruel people can be in the search for power.
Dune is based on the hugely influential sci-fi novel of the same name by Frank Herbert. In the film, we follow Timothée Chalamet's Paul Atreides, whose family inherits custody over the planet Arrakis (or the titular "Dune"), an unforgiving desert world that also hosts the only source of something known as melange, or "spice," the most valuable material in the known universe. Meanwhile, a plot is brewing against the Atreides from a rival family known as the Harkonnens, and the fate of Dune is eventually at stake, but Paul himself might be at the center of a long-foretold prophecy even he doesn't understand yet. The film also stars Oscar Isaac as Paul's father Duke Leto Atreides, Zendaya as Chani, Rebecca Ferguson as Paul's mother Lady Jessica, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Dave Bautista as Glossu 'Beast' Rabban, Charlotte Rampling as Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, Javier Bardem as Stilgar, and Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Dr. Liet Kynes.
As I have said many times, Villeneuve has crafted a sci-fi masterpiece with Dune and so far it’s my favorite film of the year. Everything about this movie is incredible. From Hans Zimmer’s amazing score to Greig Fraser’s stunning cinematography to Bob Morgan and Jacqueline West’s gorgeous costumes…the movie feels like they went to the other side of the galaxy and filmed what was really happening. I know we are in the middle of a pandemic and a lot of you do not feel safe going to a movie theater. But this is one of those films that absolutely should be seen on the biggest screen possible. I’m absolutely seeing it in IMAX as soon as I can.
Watch what Dave Bautista and Stellan Skarsgård had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.
Dave Bautista and Stellan Skarsgård
- What have they been raving about to their friends and family when they talk about Dune?
- How even though the film takes place on the other side of the galaxy it’s talking about what’s going on today on our planet.
- How the film shows how cruel people can be in the search for power.
