Dune will finally be in theaters and HBO Max in North America within a few weeks. Denis Villeneuve, director and writer of Dune, knows how fortunate he feels to have adapted Frank Herbert's sci-fi epic. This is mainly because he didn't think he would still be directing after Blade Runner 2049.
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Villeneuve spoke about the impact of 2017's film on his career outlook in an episode MTVs Happy Sad Confused podcast. He admitted that he knew he was at risk of disaster when he made this movie. Although it was critically acclaimed, the film was not financially successful. It made only $259.3 million worldwide and was essentially a failure in the United States. He felt that Ryan Gosling's film placed him in artistic danger and that he would not be making movies again. He jokingly said that he was not banned from the filmmaker community. I'm still making movies and you still talk to me.
Despite the financial failure Blade Runner 2049 experienced, it didn't seem to have had any impact on its long-term success. The Blade Runner franchise has had multiple comics released over the past four years. There are also Crunchyrolls Black Lotus anime and Adult Swim coming next month. As most franchises do after a few decades on ice, the franchise appears to be doing well now. It is likely that it will see another film soon... but maybe not with another forty-year gap.
It is easy to see how much pressure the Canadian director would feel given how popular properties such as Blade Runner and Dune are in pop culture. It helps to give some context to his desire to make a second Dune movie and be involved in its spinoff series. However, it does not excuse him from insisting on seeing it in theaters. Even if the film fails and he quits filmmaking, his entire work will eventually make it to the big screen.
Dune will be available on HBO Max on October 22nd and in theatres on October 22nd.
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