Canadian film director Denis Villeneuve’s hotly-anticipated ‘Dune’ will make its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September.
As anticipated by Variety, the festival has announced that the big-budget sci-fi epic starring Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya will premiere in Venice out of competition on September 3.
The film has been adapted from Frank Herbert’s seminal science fiction best-seller about young Paul Atreides (Chalamet), scion of the noble House of Atreides, tasked with overseeing the barren desert planet Arrakis, also known as Dune.
Villeneuve was last in Venice with unconventional sci-fi movie ‘Arrival’ in 2016.
The star-studded picture from Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures also stars Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, Sharon Duncan Brewster, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Chang Chen, David Dastmalchian, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa and Javier Bardem.
Though Venice, as is customary, has not specified what talents will be attending the ‘Dune’ premiere, it’s a safe bet that Warner Bros will be flying in some stars.
‘Dune’ is scheduled for a simultaneous release in US theatres via Warner Bros and on HBO Max on October 1.
Venice’s upcoming September 1-11 edition is on track, barring complications, to run as a completely in-person celebration of cinema with hundreds of journalists and dozens of film delegations expected to make the trek to the Lido from all over the world.
Other high-profile titles believed to be locked in for a Lido launch comprise Jane Campion’s ‘The Power of the Dog’ starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons, and Paolo Sorrentino’s semi-autobiographical drama ‘The Hand of God’, both from Netflix.
Bong Joon-ho will preside over the main Venice jury, while Italian multiple Oscar winner Roberto Benigni will be honoured with a lifetime achievement award.
