Director Denis Villeneuve has spoken about how the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted Dune’s production and post-production, admitting that it will now be a “sprint” to finish the film on time.
In a new interview promoting the Shanghai International Film Festival, per IndieWire, Villeneuve opened up about some of the challenges that he has faced amid the film industry shutdowns, as he addressed the difficulty of trying to replicate the editing room virtually while being separated from the crew.
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“I was planning to go back and shoot some elements later because I wanted to readjust the movie. I needed time. At the time I didn’t know that it would be a pandemic… as we were about to go back to do those elements,” Villeneuve revealed. “The impact was that it crushed my schedule right now. It will be a sprint to finish the movie on time right now, because we were allowed to go back to shoot those elements in a few weeks… it meant also that I have to finish some elements of the movie, like VFX and the editing, being in Montreal as my crew stayed in Los Angeles.”
Villeneuve and his cast and crew are heading back out with the cameras to complete the reshoots later this month, as it was previously confirmed that Dune would undergo additional filming in Hungary, one of the production’s original shooting locations, some time in mid-August.
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While reshoots and additional shoots are commonplace in major Hollywood productions, Villeneuve admitted that the editing process has been one of the most “painful” challenges in lockdown, so he is now playing catch-up to get all of the footage assembled in time for the film’s December release.
“As a director, there are things that can be done remotely to deal with technology. The supervision of VFX with some equipment is easy to do from afar but, editing, for me, the big lesson from this is I thought it would be possible to edit at a distance,” Villeneuve added. “But I realize how much editing is like playing music with someone and you need to be in the same room. There’s something about the interaction, human interaction, the spontaneity, the energy in the room. I really miss not being in the same room as my editor [Joe Walker]… it’s very, very painful.”
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Villeneuve has already made it clear that his upcoming film will be the first of two Dune installments because Frank Herbert’s seminal sci-fi novel is “too complex” to fit into a single feature film.
For more on Villeneuve’s first Dune movie, take a look at the new series of set photos featuring the cast in their costumes, find out about the disgusting yet practical function of their sci-fi suits, and then read our explainer to learn more about the franchise and what to expect from the upcoming adaptation.
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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.
Source: IGN.com Dune Director Says It Will Be a 'Sprint' to Finish the Film on Time