Dune's New Sandworm Creature Design Took A Full Year To Perfect

[Nergal]

 

 

Director Denis Villeneuve and his team took a full year to perfect the sandworm creature designs for the new Dune. Sci-fi fans got a jolt of excitement when they learned the Oscar-nominated Villeneuve would be trying his hand at bringing Frank Herbert's iconic 1965 novel to the big screen. Dune was previously adapted into a feature film directed by David Lynch, plus a miniseries for television. However, neither really succeeded at translating the complex and vast world, leaving fans disappointed. Now, all of their hopes rest with Villeneuve, who proved his skill with the sci-fi genre through films like Arrival and Blade Runner 2049.

Dune is currently slated for a December 18, 2020 release date and boasts an impressive, star-studded cast. Just last month, first look images of the film were released, giving fans their first look at characters like Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), Chani (Zendaya), and Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac). That cast has given fans some hope that Villeneuve's Dune will be a successful adaptation, as does the news that Villeneuve intends to split it into two films to do the full story justice.

Villeneuve's dedication to the source material also seems to be exemplified by this latest bit of news regarding Dune. While talking to Empire Magazine (via ComicBook.com), Villeneuve explained one bit of Dune's world that received a whole lot of attention: The Shai-Hulud, or the sandworms of the desert planet of Arrakis. "We talked about every little detail that would make such a beast possible, from the texture of the skin, to the way the mouth opens, to the system to eat its food in the sand," Villeneuve revealed. "It was a year of work to design and to find the perfect shape that looked prehistoric enough."


This will likely be seen as another positive for fans hoping this Dune will be the adaptation they've long been hoping for. There was some pushback from the initial batch of Dune images after fans believed the film's aesthetic hewed too close to Star Wars. However, it's hard to gauge exactly how Dune will turn out from just a handful of pictures, and many are still interested in seeing what Villeneuve has done with the property. Provided Dune doesn't get pushed back from December (which could happen if the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect release dates), fans can expect to see a trailer within the next few months that might shed more light on how the film will turn out.

At the very least, it really does sound like Villeneuve went into Dune with the best of intentions. Whether those intentions translate to cinematic gold has yet to be seen, but it has made Dune one of the most anticipated sci-fi films. If Villeneuve succeeds with creating a well-developed Arrakis (and he might be on the right track with focusing so much on how the sandworms look), he just might draw in a whole new crowd of fans for the franchise.

Dune (2020)
Release Date: Dec 18, 2020