Quentin Tarantino does not care about Lisan al Gaib.
More specifically, the Pulp Fiction filmmaker recently said he has no interest in watching fellow colleague Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune adaptations, as he views them as symptomatic of Hollywood’s overreliance on remixing old IP (usually in a bid to mitigate risk and maximize profit).
“I saw [David Lynch’s original adaptation of] ‘Dune’ a couple of times,” he told Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho) on his self-titled podcast. “I don’t need to see that story again. I don’t need to see spice worms. I don’t need to see a movie that says the word ‘spice’ so dramatically.”
The Oscar winner continued, listing other titles he has shrugged off because their material draws from trodden ground.
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“It’s one after another of this remake, and that remake,” he said. “People ask ‘Have you seen ‘Dune?’ ‘Have you seen ‘Ripley?’ ‘Have you seen ‘Shōgun?’ And I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no.’ There’s six or seven Ripley books: If you do one again, why are you doing the same one that they’ve done twice already? I’ve seen that story twice before, and I didn’t really like it in either version, so I’m not really interested in seeing it a third time. If you did another story, that would be interesting enough to give it a shot anyway.”
Certainly, Tarantino isn’t the only industry professional or cinephile who has lamented the steady stream of remakes, reboots and reimaginings that have graced both silver and small screens for the past couple of years. Just a number of the upcoming remakes that have generated headline news include Luca Guadagnino’s American Psycho, Warner Bros. Television’s Harry Potter series and Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights.
However, Dune: Part Two has received incredible critical and commercial acclaim, and looks to be a major Academy Award contender next year. The science-fiction epic, based on Frank Herbert’s seminal novel, warns of the dangers of religious extremism, imperialism and climate disaster in a tale inspired by MENA culture. Starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem and more, the film was praised by the likes of Steven Spielberg, who called it “one of the most brilliant” sci-fi pics he’s seen and lauded Villeneuve for being a world-builder.
For his part, the Prisoners helmer will take his place behind the camera sooner rather than later to shoot Part Three, which will draw from Herbert’s sequel, Dune: Messiah. Adding to the Sandworm-verse is Max’s prequel series Dune: Prophecy, set for premiere Nov. 17.
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