‘Dune’ Film Director Reveals the Sandworm Took a Year to Get Right

In recent years, French Canadian film director Denis Villeneuve has proven his talent with films such as Sicario, Arrival and, most recently, the critically acclaimed Blade Runner 2049. Given his skill at film making, particularly with Sci-Fi films, Dune fans everywhere were thrilled when it was announced that Villenueve would be directing, writing and producing a film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s  classic novel Dune. Previous attempts at an adaptation have all left fans more than a little disappointed, but it looks like Villenueve is doing all he can to make his film one that lives up to the quality of the source material.

One of the most iconic creatures in Herbert’s novel are easily the enormous Sandworms that dominate the vast deserts of the world of Dune. They’ve become an icon of the book and are often featured on the books covers. Fans will no doubt be eager to see how Villenueve brings these behemoths to the big screen, and it’s something he’s clearly not taking for granted. In a recent interview with Empire, Villenueve revealed that he and his team spent an entire year crafting the look of the beats, inspecting every detail to make them appear as realistic as possible when they’re seen on the big screen.

“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,” said Villenueve. “It was a year of work to design and to find the perfect shape that looked prehistoric enough.”

Based upon dragons commonly found in the fantasy genre, Herbert’s Sandworms are what come to mind first when one thinks of Dune, and it’s not hard to see why. These colossal worms are almost unstoppable and are as important to Dune as Darth Vader is to Star Wars. No adaptation would be complete without them.

The film is set to be released later this year on 18th December, and boasts an impressive cast including Oscar Isaa, Josh Brolin, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgard, Zendaya as Chani, Javier Bardem and Dave Bautista. we certainly hope Dune is another hit for Villenueve, and a hit among fans of the book.