After completing Dune Part Two, Denis Villeneuve will be working within science fiction again it’s been revealed.
As one of the few directors today who seems to have mastered the notoriously tricky balancing act of finding an equilibrium between crowd-pleasing, blockbuster entertainment, and thoughtful, artistic cinema, Denis Villeneuve’s talents arein demand. He’s certainly found a rich vein of form working within the science fiction genre too over the last few years. Arrival, Blade Runner 2049 and now Dune Part One, have all released to strong critical reviews, no mean feat considering each time, Villeneuve has taken a leap forward both in technical ambition, but also with the scale of diversity of the audience he is trying to entertain.
Villeneuve’s reward for pulling off a successful adaptation of the first half of Frank Herbert’s first Dune novel is Dune Part Two, the follow-up that he has been desperate to make. On top of that, he’s also involved in the TV spin-off, The Sisterhood, for which he’ll be directing several episodes.
However, Villeneuve can’t get enough of the science fiction genre, as it’s been announced that he’ll be following Dune Part Two with Rendevous With Rama, a film that ‘follows a group of human space explorers who are tasked with intercepting an alien starship that is hurtling through the solar system. It is believed that the missions will lead to mankind’s first contact with alien intelligence.’
Rendevous With Rama is based upon a story by Arthur C Clarke, the celebrated hard science fiction writer who also penned 2001: A Space Odyssey, which was of course adaptated into a film by the great Stanley Kubrick. Clarke penned the kind of intelligent science fiction that suits Villeneuve’s cerebral style as a filmmaker, and frankly, we’re happy to see him work within sci-fi for as long as he wishes (although we’d love to see him head back outside of the genre too, to make more movies like Sicario and Prisoners).
At this point, perhaps cloning Villeneuve, so he can make two movies at a time, might be our best option. If anybody has practical tips on how to do this, let us know in the comments below. In the meantime, when we hear more about Rendevouz With Rama, we’ll let you know right here.
The Hollywood Reporter
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