Josh Brolin on Denis Villeneuve’s Oscar snub

Denis Villeneuve
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After threatening to quit acting if Denis Villeneuve didn’t get Oscar nominated for Best Director, Josh Brolin is having words.


Denis Villeneuve did not get nominated for a Best Director gong for this year’s Oscars and Josh Brolin isn’t happy. Our own Maria Lattila has written here about why this year’s nominations are already a little depressing. But we imagine that the hard stare Josh Brolin is aiming at the Academy must be something to behold right now given that he went to bat for a Villeneuve director nom, and in very public fashion too.

After vowing to retire if Villeneuve was once again overlooked for his directingof a Dune movie, Brolin took to social media to have a bit of a moan and question if he should now ever work again. (Pointedly, he didn’t seem entirely serious about this statement, so we’re speculating that we may not have seen the last of him):

“Apparently, I am going to quit acting because Denis Villeneuve didn’t get nominated. This is just how this thing works. It makes no sense to me. That’s okay. [Editor] Joe Walker and Denis, you deserve it. It’s an amazing film. It was even better than the first one.”

Brolin – one of the stars of Dune: Part Two has been campaigning hard for Villeneuve but when up against the subjective whims of Academy voters, it was always going to be a tall order. As is often cited, The Return Of The King syndrome is perceived as having an effect here, with voters subconsciously awaiting Villeneuve’s trilogy instalment before they reward him with a vote, which will in effect be an endorsement of all three Dune films.

We hope Brolin chooses not to retire, because that would be something of an overreaction. We’re also of the opinion that Denis Villeneuve does not need a gold statuette for the world to know that he’s an incredible director.

Still, he’ll have another chance to win one of them, when Dune: Messiah is slated to release. Still, if the source material is anything to go by, that story is a little weirder and less like a traditional trilogy-capper than you might think. What Academy voters may think of it, we’ll have to find out in due course. Still, we are looking forward to seeing what Josh Bolin chooses to stake next time around when he threatens those about to cast their ballots.

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