Javier Bardem can't wait to "go back to the desert" to film Dune 2, or Dune: Part Two, he told a crowd at the Cannes Film Festival this weekend, during a Q&A session with the Spanish actor.
He spoke freely on Denis Villeneuve's Dune sequel, about which not much is yet known.
“I’ve read the new draft and I think they’ve done an amazing job of putting together the pieces in a way that is gonna surprise people," he told a crowd at the Salle Bunuel on Friday, as reported by industry publication Deadline.
Scroll through the gallery below to see the cast of 'Dune':
He said fans won't be surprised by what happens if they've read the book, "but they’ll be surprised by the way they put it together. I was very moved by it. It’s a movie that is full, and you can feel the weight of it, and at the same time ... the spectacularity of it."
Bardem said he'd be happy to go back to the desert, the setting for the film, with Villeneuve, who he described as "one of the greatest directors ever".
The film, which stars Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac and Zendaya, was shot in the Liwa desert in Abu Dhabi in the summer of 2019. The vast open landscape was used as the setting for the planet Arrakis ― a dangerous place known for its exclusive supply of spice, the most essential and valuable commodity in the universe.
Whether or not the sequel will be shot in the UAE is still up in the air. The National understands negotiations are taking place, but neither the Abu Dhabi Film Commission nor twofour54, which handled local production on Dune, have given an official comment. Similarly, Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures have declined to comment, and none of the local crew we reached out to were able to confirm or deny if they’d been approached for Dune: Part Two.
After Dune opened last October to the highest-grossing opening weekend of director Villeneuve’s storied career, it came as no surprise when Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures promptly green-lit a sequel. It achieved a $41 million opening in the US, despite having to contend with the ongoing box office challenges presented by the pandemic and a same-day HBO Max streaming release.
A sequel had always been on the cards, however, as Villeneuve already split Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel in two for his film. It then went on to win six Oscars, the most of any film at the 94th Academy Awards.
Scroll through the gallery below to see all the winners from Oscars 2022:
Details about the sequel are thin on the ground for now. Villeneuve has said the earliest he expects to begin shooting is autumn of this year, and Dune: Part Two has a tentative release date of October 2023.
Those who are familiar with Herbert’s novel can probably predict some key plot points as Paul Atreides (Chalamet) rises to power among the Fremen in the ongoing battle for control of the spice of Arrakis.
Bardem plays Naib Stilgar, governor of Arrakis, in the film.
During the talk at Cannes, which was called Rendezvous with Javier Bardem, the No Country for Old Men actor also discussed a wide range of other topics, including how the industry has changed since his career began in the 1970s.
"When I started, it was different," he said. "You would do a role and you would spend the whole time preparing that role, and you would do the movie. It was a sacred thing, and then it would open and it would create a climate — it would mean something.
"Now, we are going so fast, and I feel sorry for the people who are starting out now. I don’t know what it means to be trying to make movies today as an actor, or director, or producer, or writer, because the rhythm is so different from where I started."
The Pirates of the Caribbean actor also touched on Sean Penn’s critically panned 2016 Cannes competition entry The Last Face, a love story in which Bardem played a relief worker. “It was a disaster," he said with a smile.
“But, let me tell you, it was a great disaster. It’s good to come to a festival like Cannes and be booed and be reminded that what we do can be horrific, because otherwise we think of ourselves too highly."
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Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
US PGA Championship in numbers
1 Joost Luiten produced a memorable hole in one at the par-three fourth in the first round.
2 To date, the only two players to win the PGA Championship after winning the week before are Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and Tiger Woods (2007, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). Hideki Matsuyama or Chris Stroud could have made it three.
3 Number of seasons without a major for McIlroy, who finished in a tie for 22nd.
4 Louis Oosthuizen has now finished second in all four of the game's major championships.
5 In the fifth hole of the final round, McIlroy holed his longest putt of the week - from 16ft 8in - for birdie.
6 For the sixth successive year, play was disrupted by bad weather with a delay of one hour and 43 minutes on Friday.
7 Seven under par (64) was the best round of the week, shot by Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari on Day 2.
8 Number of shots taken by Jason Day on the 18th hole in round three after a risky recovery shot backfired.
9 Jon Rahm's age in months the last time Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the US PGA, in 1995.
10 Jimmy Walker's opening round as defending champion was a 10-over-par 81.
11 The par-four 11th coincidentally ranked as the 11th hardest hole overall with a scoring average of 4.192.
12 Paul Casey was a combined 12 under par for his first round in this year's majors.
13 The average world ranking of the last 13 PGA winners before this week was 25. Kevin Kisner began the week ranked 25th.
14 The world ranking of Justin Thomas before his victory.
15 Of the top 15 players after 54 holes, only Oosthuizen had previously won a major.
16 The par-four 16th marks the start of Quail Hollow's so-called "Green Mile" of finishing holes, some of the toughest in golf.
17 The first round scoring average of the last 17 major champions was 67.2. Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen shot 67 on day one at Quail Hollow.
18 For the first time in 18 majors, the eventual winner was over par after round one (Thomas shot 73).
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
360Vuz PROFILE
Date started: January 2017
Founder: Khaled Zaatarah
Based: Dubai and Los Angeles
Sector: Technology
Size: 21 employees
Funding: $7 million
Investors: Shorooq Partners, KBW Ventures, Vision Ventures, Hala Ventures, 500Startups, Plug and Play, Magnus Olsson, Samih Toukan, Jonathan Labin
Record breaker
- The most total field goals made in NBA history, as well as the most consecutive games scoring 10 or more points
- The only player in NBA history to reach 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists
- Four-time regular season MVP and four-time NBA Finals MVP
- Six-time NBA All-Defensive selection. Rookie of the Year in 2004
- The most All-NBA selections with 21 in a row, including a record 13 first team selections
- The most consecutive All-Star selections with 21
- The only player to play alongside his son; Bronny James was chosen by the Lakers in the 2024 NBA draft
KINGDOM%20OF%20THE%20PLANET%20OF%20THE%20APES
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What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is the most popular virtual currency in the world. It was created in 2009 as a new way of paying for things that would not be subject to central banks that are capable of devaluing currency. A Bitcoin itself is essentially a line of computer code. It's signed digitally when it goes from one owner to another. There are sustainability concerns around the cryptocurrency, which stem from the process of "mining" that is central to its existence.
The "miners" use computers to make complex calculations that verify transactions in Bitcoin. This uses a tremendous amount of energy via computers and server farms all over the world, which has given rise to concerns about the amount of fossil fuel-dependent electricity used to power the computers.
The biog
From: Upper Egypt
Age: 78
Family: a daughter in Egypt; a son in Dubai and his wife, Nabila
Favourite Abu Dhabi activity: walking near to Emirates Palace
Favourite building in Abu Dhabi: Emirates Palace
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE SPECS
GMC Sierra Denali 1500
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Price: Dh232,500
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New Zealand T20 squad
New Zealand T20 squad: Tim Southee (captain), Finn Allen, Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway (wicketkeeper), Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Will Young
