‘Dune 2’ Director Denis Villeneuve Says Epic Sandworm-Riding Scene Took ‘Sometimes a Week for One Shot’ and Required a Separate Unit: ‘If I Had Done It Myself, I Would Still Be Shooting’

Celebrated director Denis Villeneuve reflected on some of his favorite moments from his films during a career-spanning Screen Talk at the BFI London Film Festival on Saturday.

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In conversation with “Ted Lasso” star Brett Goldstein, who guaranteed lots of laughs in the hour-long discussion, Villeneuve broke down “Dune: Part Two’s” epic sandworm-riding scene. Villeneuve has previously said that the sequence took 44 days to film , and required a separate crew called the “worm unit.”

“I realized that, the way I wanted to approach this, I didn’t want to compromise,” Villeneuve said. “Most important with visual effects is, how will you shoot it? And I wanted to shoot it with natural light. And I realized it would take months to shoot it. Each shot was very complex. Each shot took sometimes half a day, sometimes a day, sometimes a week for one shot because of the complexity. If I had done it myself, I would still be shooting.”

The worm unit was led by Tanya Lapointe, someone who “understood perfectly my vision,” Villeneuve said, adding: “She’s my wife, also.”

Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two,” starring Timothée Chalamet as hero Paul Atreides, premiered in March to rave reviews and earned a whopping $714 million at the worldwide box office.

When adapting Herbert’s beloved “Dune” universe for the screen, Villeneuve said the “key word” was “women.”

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“The sisters of the Bene Gesserit I thought were the most meaningful, interesting and relevant,” he said, noting that “when you adapt, you kill. It’s really an act of artistic violence.”

But the “Dune” movies weren’t Villeneuve’s first foray into sci-fi — in 2017, he directed “Blade Runner 2049,” a sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 classic. Villeneuve told Goldstein that he still regards the movie as one of his “most risky” career decisions.

“Doing the sequel of one of the great Ridley Scott masterpieces was probably the worst idea I’ve had,” Villeneuve said with a laugh. But, he ultimately decided to take the offer because “to make a sequel to my favorite film is a beautiful way to end my career. I thought it was very romantic.”

Luckily, “Blade Runner 2049” instead carved a whole new path for Villeneuve, who is now regarded as one of the leading sci-fi filmmakers today and has a third “Dune” movie in development. Though Villeneuve stayed mum on the topic during Saturday’s talk, “Dune 3” will be based on Frank Herbert’s “Dune Messiah,” which is set 12 years after the events of his first novel.

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