Dune director Denis Villeneuve fears HBO Max release plan will kill series

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Earlier this month, Warner Bros. announced that they will be releasing all of their 2021 films on the HBO Max streaming service the same day they reach theatres. I took that as good news for those of us who want to watch new releases next year but aren't going to feel safe going to theatres for a while, but it was a move that has angered a lot of filmmakers. Directors of WB movies have said they were not consulted about the change in release strategy, Legendary Entertainment (producer of Dune and Godzilla vs. Kong) is said to be challenging the HBO Max releases, there are questions about contracts and residuals, and WB favorite Christopher Nolan blasted the plan by saying, "Some of our industry's biggest filmmakers and most important movie stars went to bed the night before thinking they were working for the greatest movie studio and woke up to find out they were working for the worst streaming service." 

Dune director Denis Villeneuve has taken a stand against the idea of his movie reaching theatres and HBO Max the same day. In a statement released through Variety, Villeneuve said, 

I learned in the news that Warner Bros. has decided to release “Dune” on HBO Max at the same time as our theatrical release, using prominent images from our movie to promote their streaming service. With this decision AT&T has hijacked one of the most respectable and important studios in film history. 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.

Warner Bros.’ sudden reversal from being a legacy home for filmmakers to the new era of complete disregard draws a clear line for me. Filmmaking is a collaboration, reliant on the mutual trust of team work and Warner Bros. has declared they are no longer on the same team.

Villeneuve made sure to note that he is not anti-streaming, his issue is that 

Warner Bros.’ decision means “Dune” won’t have the chance to perform financially in order to be viable and piracy will ultimately triumph. Warner Bros. might just have killed the “Dune” franchise.

The filmmaker says "public safety comes first" when figuring out a release plan for a film, which is why he understood when Dune was delayed from December 2020 to October 1, 2021.

The plan was that “Dune” would open in theaters in October 2021, when vaccinations will be advanced and, hopefully, the virus behind us. Science tells us that everything should be back to a new normal next fall.

Due to the hope he has that a "new normal" will be in place and it will be safe to gather in theatres again by next October, Villeneuve is calling on Warner Bros. and AT&T to remove Dune from their 2021 HBO Max plans.

Directed by Villeneuve from a screenplay he wrote with with Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts, Dune stars Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, "a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding", who 

must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet's exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence – a commodity capable of unlocking humanity's greatest potential – only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

Chalamet is joined in the cast by Oscar Issac as Paul's father Duke Leto Atreides; Rebecca Ferguson as Paul's mother Lady Jessica; Josh Brolin as troubadour-swordsman Gurney Halleck; Jason Momoa as swordmaster Duncan Idaho; Javier Bardem as helpful tribe leader Stilgar; Stellan Skarsgård as the villainous Baron Harkonnen, Dave Bautista as Harkonnen's brutish nephew Glossu Rabban, Sharon Duncan-Brewster as ecologist Doctor Liet Kynes, Charlotte Rampling as the emperor's truthsayer Reverend Mother Mohiam, David Dastmalchian as the twisted Piter De Vries, Chang Chen as Atreides family physician Dr. Yueh, Stephen McKinley Henderson as Thufir Hawat, Master of Assassins for House Atreides; and Zendaya as Chani, "a mystery woman who haunts Paul in his dreams".

Dune is based on a novel by Frank Herbert, and Villeneuve is hoping this film will be the first half of a two-part adaptation – which is why he fears the HBO Max plan might "kill the franchise".

Mary Parent and Cale Boyter produced Dune with Villeneuve. Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Thomas Tull, and Kim Herbert served as executive producers. Kevin J. Anderson was the creative consultant.