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Denis Villeneuve’sDune 2is well on its way to becoming one of the most successful blockbusters in Hollywood. A brilliant sequel to its impressive predecessor, the film was bigger, more visually spectacular, and more emotionally intense that the first part, which is credit to Villeneuve’s prowess and skill as a filmmaker.
While the director stayed true to the novels by Frank Herbert when it came to characters and events, he made a key change to Zendaya’s Chani that was significantly different from how she was represented in the book. TheBlade 2049filmmaker explained his reasons that actually stemmed from Herbert’s own thoughts.
Denis Villeneuve On Why He Changed Zendaya’s Character Arc InDune 2
Zendaya’sChani who was more of a background presence inDune, became one of the pivotal characters in Denis Villeneuve’s blockbuster sequel. While her relationship to the central protagonist Paul Atreides is the glue that holds the narrative together, Villeneuve took the creative liberty of changing up her arc in the second film.
InFrank Herbert’sDune, Chani is seen as someone who expresses her undying loyalty to Paul Atreides and even accepts him as the Lisan-Al-Gaib. But this is not the case inDune 2where she is one of the few characters who refuses to believe this fact, and is extremely suspicious and sceptical about Atreides’ legacy.
“I was deeply scared”: Dune 2 Director Denis Villeneuve Was Terrified to Film His 1 Movie Out of Personal Fear That’s Now Considered His Best Work
TheSicariofilmmaker explained why he needed to make this change and revealed that it was actually Herbert’s own thoughts that inspired him to tweak the script in this manner. In an interview withScreen Rant Plus, Villeneuve elaborated further on the author’s opinions and said,
”When the book came out, he was disappointed about how people perceived Paul Atreides. People were talking about him as a hero, but for him, he was an anti-hero. He was a dark figure. So he wrote Dune Messiah for people to understand the intention. So I wrote part two having that in mind. That is why Chani’s character is slightly different in my adaptation than in the book. It helped me bring the initial intention of Frank Herbert to the screen.”
The ending ofDune 2which sees an enraged Chani moving away from Paul Atreides, is the perfect segue into the next narrative which is expected to see a lot of threads being tied up with regard to their relationship.
Denis Villeneuve Was Destined To MakeDune
Sometimes, life grants people the opportunity to make their childhood dreams come true.Denis Villeneuveis one of the lucky ones who has fulfilled a long-standing desire. The Canadian director created waves by adaptingDune, Frank Herbert’s complex novel of politics, ecology, and philosophy in a sci-fi world.
He followed it up with an inspiring sequel in 2024 which has already broken a ton of records at the box office, and is in the running to be one of the most successful Hollywood films ever made. For the filmmaker, these films were a dream that he manifested since his childhood.
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Villeneuve who was a teenager when he first read the books, was completely enamored by the world that Herbert had created. The director revealed how he desperately wished that he would be able to visually capture the glory of this narrative on screen. Speaking toWired, Villeneuve said,
“I read it when I was 13 or 14 years old. The first Dune book is a tremendous, powerful adventure of a young boy discovering a new world. It stayed with me through the years, haunted me. So, when people were saying, ‘Well, what would be your biggest dream?’ I would say, Dune.”
Villeneuve expressed his gratitude for having been given this opportunity to visualize his favorite story of all time. WithDune 2already staking its claim to end the year as one of the biggest blockbusters, fans of the franchise will be eager to see how the 3rd installment will pan out.
Dunecan be streamed in Hulu.
Dune 2is currently running in theaters.
Sharanya Sankar
Senior Writer
Articles Published :1230
Sharanya Sankar, Writer for FandomwireHaving completed her Masters degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, Sharanya has a solid foundation in writing which is also one of her passions. She has worked previously with Book My show for a couple of years where she gained experience reviewing films and writing feature articles. Sharanya’s articles on film and pop culture have also been published on Film Companion, a popular film-based website. Apart from movies and pop culture, her interests include music and sports. She has contributed over 650 articles to Fandomwire so far.
