Despite the first Dune movie picking up a nomination for Best Picture at the 2022 Academy Awards, Denis Villeneuve was not nominated for Best Director. Understandably, this didn't sit very well with a lot of people - including star Josh Brolin.
Brolin, who played loyal Atreides War Master Gurney Halleck in both movies, was very vocal about Villeneuve being overlooked the first time, and is even more adamant that the filmmaker should be recognized by the Academy for his work on recent sequel, Dune: Part Two.
“If he doesn’t get nominated this year, I’ll quit acting,” Brolin tells Variety. “It was a better movie than the first one. When I watched it, it felt like my brain was broken open. It’s masterful, and Denis is one of our master filmmakers. If the Academy Awards have any meaning whatsoever, they’ll recognize him.”
We're sure Brolin won't actually retire if Villeneuve isn't nominated, but it would definitely be viewed as a massive snub if the acclaimed filmmaker didn't receive some awards plaudits for the sci-fi sequel, which is generally viewed as being even better than its predecessor.
Villeneuve will return to helm the now officially green-lit Dune: Part Three - which will adapt the second book in Frank Herbert's saga, Dune: Messiah - and Brolin is expected to reprise his role along with the rest of the main cast.
"Those hoping for blockbuster escapism might find themselves shook by this faithful, at times borderline depressing adaptation," we said in our review of Part Two. "But Dune Part Two is Sci-fi spectacle at its finest and most audacious, as Villeneuve builds-upon and possibly surpasses (opinions will vary) his previous film with aplomb."
The saga continues as award-winning filmmaker Denis Villeneuve embarks on Dune: Part Two, the next chapter of Frank Herbert’s celebrated novel Dune, with an expanded all-star international ensemble cast. The film, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, is the highly anticipated follow-up to 2021’s six-time Academy Award-winning Dune.
The big-screen epic continues the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s acclaimed bestseller Dune with returning and new stars, including Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet (Wonka, Call Me by Your Name), Zendaya (Spider-Man: No Way Home, Malcolm & Marie, Euphoria), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning), Oscar nominee Josh Brolin (Avengers: Endgame, Milk), Oscar nominee Austin Butler (Elvis, Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood), Oscar nominee Florence Pugh (Black Widow, Little Women), Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: Love and Thunder), Oscar winner Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter,), Stephen McKinley Henderson (Fences), Léa Seydoux (James Bond, Crimes of the Future), with Stellan Skarsgård (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling (45 Years, Assassin’s Creed), and Oscar winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, Being the Ricardos).
Dune: Part Two will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.