Dune director Denis Villeneuve continues to talk about his Dune films, and in a recent interview with The New York Times, he compared the story to The Godfather.
He drew comparisons to Paul Atreides and The Godfather‘s Michael Corleone, and talked about his relationship with Chani, saying: “He betrayed her in many ways.”
He continued: “But the big thing for Chani is that it’s not about love. It’s about the fact that he becomes the figure that will keep the Fremen in their mental jail.”
He explained: “A leader that is not there to free the Fremen, but to control them. That’s the tragedy of all tragedies. Like the Michael Corleone of sci-fi, he becomes what he wanted to avoid. And he will try to find a way to save his soul in the third part.”
Villeneuve also talked about Chani’s feelings towards Paul, saying: “That anger is tremendous. I don’t want to reveal what I’m going to do with the third movie.”
He went on to tease: “I know exactly what to do. I’m writing it right now. But there’s a lot of firepower there and I’m very excited about that decision.”
The scene in Dune: Part Two that the director is referring to comes at the end of the movie when Paul confronts the Emperor (Christopher Walken) and challenges him to the throne while demanding to marry his daughter, Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), while Chani (Zendaya) looks on in horror.
When previously talking about Dune: Messiah,the filmmaker explained: “My job was to try to keep the spirit of Frank Herbert alive as much as possible — the whole meaning of Dune becomes clear with Dune: Messiah.”
It’ll be a while before we see Villeneuve conclude his trilogy, but it’s good to know that he knows exactly where he’s planning on taking it.