If the news about “The French Dispatch” going to Cannes for its world premiere is Hollywood’s worst-kept secret that eventually was confirmed, then the next worst-kept secret about “Dune” heading to the Venice Film Festival must be ready for announcement, right?
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Well, according to Deadline, it appears that all the speculation is true—Denis Villeneuve’s highly-anticipated sci-fi epic, “Dune,” is set to debut at this year’s Venice Film Festival. The film is arriving in theaters this October, but when you have Villeneuve behind the camera and a cast that includes folks like Timothee Chalamet, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, and Stellan Skarsgård, you better believe a film festival is going to be itching to be the destination for that film’s premiere. And as the timing works out for Venice, it appears that the Lido will be where the first audiences will be able to watch the long-awaited adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic novel.
“Dune” tells the story of an epic war in a distant galaxy over the control of the universe’s most desired resource—melange, aka spice. This is a resource that is the most coveted but also the most scarce, as it can only be found on one planet, Arrakis, aka Dune. And thus, competing royal families fight to the death over control of Arrakis and control of the spice.
The buzz surrounding “Dune” is at a fever pitch right now. Not only are fans of the novel excited to see a world-class filmmaker like Villeneuve bring the story to life, but the trailer and all the marketing for the film seem to nail the story in a way that hasn’t been done before. (David Lynch’s ‘80s adaptation didn’t please the filmmaker nor did it gain the favor of the novel’s fans.)
The Venice debut for “Dune” reportedly could only be sidetracked by a COVID-related issue or some other unforeseen problem. So, at this point, it appears that “Dune” will debut at Venice during the festival’s September 1 to September 11 dates, with an international debut in theaters in mid-September and in the US on October 1.
