Denis Villeneuve's 'Dune' Will "Honor Everything" About The Novel

Fans of Frank Herbert's seminal 1965 sci-fi novel have reason to be nervous about Denis Villeneuve's upcoming adaptation of Dune — the last feature adaptation of the story resulted in one of the most infamous big-budget disasters put to the big screen. But worry not, Dune fans. Villeneuve is doing his best to make sure his upcoming Dune adaptation will be faithful to the novel.

According to Villeneuve's frequent collaborator David Dastmalchian, who reunites with the French-Canadian director for a third time after Prisoners and Blade Runner 2049, Dune fans can expect an incredibly faithful adaptation of the novel. In an interview with CinemaBlend, the actor said that Villeneuve's adaptation, for which the director shares a screenwriting credit with Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts, will "honor everything" in Herbert's novel:

"I can't really discuss much about the script or the plot itself, but I can just tell you that that old phrase 'true to the spirit' or 'honoring the spirit of' [applies]. Quite honestly I haven't even seen the most recent [version] of the script, but in the way Denis has talked about the film and what I've seen, it's absolutely true to and in honor of everything that Frank put into the novel...[Denis is] just so fearless, man. He makes choices and then he goes into the places that we need right now as audiences."

Ironically, it wasn't lack of faith to the novel that caused David Lynch's ill-fated 1984 film but the inability to translate Herbert's notoriously dense and complicated story to a visual medium. But Villeneuve has more resources on hand than Lynch did in the '80s, and a passion for the source material. Dastmalchian promised that the "level of maturity and complexity in Herbert's writing" would be reflected in Villeneuve's film.

"I'm so grateful and excited to be a part of Denis' vision," Dastmalchian added. "I think that he is one of the greatest filmmakers of our time and any time, and I believe what he's going to do here, it's just going to take people to a whole other place. When you think about 'Arrival' and 'Blade Runner 2049,' those are the two science fiction films that he's crafted, you see his gift for telling stories that are visually stunning, but that are also rooted in really complex ideas and really fascinating characters."

Dune hits theaters on November 20, 2020.

A mythic and emotionally charged hero's journey, "Dune" tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet's exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity's greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.