Dune Director Denis Villeneuve Claims It's the Best Movie He's Ever Made

Over the past decade, director Denis Villeneuve has given movie fans a number of compelling and [...]

Over the past decade, director Denis Villeneuve has given movie fans a number of compelling and accomplished narratives, whether they be more grounded thrillers like Prisoners and Sicario or ambitious sci-fi events like Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, but, according to the director himself, all of those films pale in comparison to what he's accomplished with the upcoming Dune. Unfortunately, the filmmaker expressed his pride in the new film in a letter explaining his disappointment and frustration about how the film will be landing on HBO Max the same day it is expected to land in theaters and how the film was designed to be experienced on the big screen.

"Dune is by far the best movie I've ever made," Villeneuve shared in a letter to Variety. "My team and I devoted more than three years of our lives to make it a unique big-screen experience. Our movie's image and sound were meticulously designed to be seen in theaters."

WarnerMedia announced earlier this month that its entire 2021 slate of films would debut on their streaming service the same day they hit theaters, with execs confirming these were extenuating circumstances due to the coronavirus pandemic and that their priority is delivering fans their films in the safest way possible. Given that there's no clear end in sight to the pandemic, the studio is seemingly committing to avoiding any further delays of upcoming projects.

Dune, for example, is currently slated to debut on October 1, 2021, but in the event that theaters still won't be operating at full capacity, that won't prevent audiences from being able to witness the epic. However, it's also possible that a vaccination could be developed in the coming months that would reach enough people and, by the spring, the future of the theatrical experience could look more promising.

Villeneuve expressed his perspective and how these decisions to debut films on HBO Max is less about the fans and more about driving more subscribers to their new platform in hopes of turning more of a profit.

"With this decision AT&T has hijacked one of the most respectable and important studios in film history," the filmmaker detailed. "There is absolutely no love for cinema, nor for the audience here. It is all about the survival of a telecom mammoth, one that is currently bearing an astronomical debt of more than $150 billion. Therefore, even though Dune is about cinema and audiences, AT&T is about its own survival on Wall Street. With HBO Max's launch a failure thus far, AT&T decided to sacrifice Warner Bros.' entire 2021 slate in a desperate attempt to grab the audience's attention."

He concluded, "The moviegoing experience is like no other. In those darkened theaters films capture our history, educate us, fuel our imagination, and lift and inspire our collective spirit. It is our legacy. Long live theatrical cinema!"

Dune is currently slated to hit theaters and HBO Max on October 1, 2021.

What do you think of the filmmaker's remarks? Let us know in the comments below!

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