Austin Butler Calls Denis Villeneuve ‘One of the Greatest Filmmakers Alive’

Christian Zilko
·2 min read

“Dune: Part II” won’t be hitting theaters until 2024 due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, but Austin Butler is already making his feelings about Denis Villeneuve clear.

In a new conversation with his “Dune” co-star Josh Brolin for Interview Magazine (which was conducted before the strike), Butler heaped praise on the “Arrival” director after working with him on the Arrakis-set sequel.

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“Denis is one of the greatest filmmakers alive, so the idea of getting to work with him, and then you, and all of the cast was so exciting for me,” Butler said. “The thing with Denis is, you’ll give an idea, and then his mind will start to percolate, and then he’ll come back with 10 more, and then you’re feeding off of each other’s imaginations.”

Butler’s role as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen sees him joining a stacked “Dune” cast that includes returning stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, and Dave Bautista alongside newcomers Christopher Walken and Florence Pugh.

The highly anticipated blockbuster sequel will conclude the story of Frank Herbert’s original “Dune” book, but Villeneuve recently teased that he hopes to make a third film based on the second novel, “Dune Messiah.”

“If I succeed in making a trilogy, that would be the dream,” Villeneuve said. “’Dune Messiah’ was written in reaction to the fact that people perceived Paul Atreides as a hero. Which is not what he wanted to do. My adaptation is closer to his idea that it’s actually a warning.”

Villeneuve isn’t the only recent collaborator for whom Butler had kind words. He also praised Tom Hardy, his co-star in Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders,” for his professionalism and jovial attitude on set.

“I pictured him to be this grizzly bear, always serious,” Butler said of Hardy. “And really, he’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. He’d be joking around until action is called, and then go into being the most intense guy I’d ever seen. It reminds me of the stories I heard of [Marlon] Brando, talking to the camera operator until the moment action is called.”

“Dune: Part Two” is currently scheduled to open in theaters on March 15, 2024.

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