Denis Villeneuve Exits HBO’s Miniseries ‘The Son’
Denis Villeneuve is starting to get picky on the projects he focuses on after Dune: Part Two. The Oscar-nominated filmmaker was once reported to have signed on to an HBO miniseries titled The Son, in which he’d reunite with his Enemy and Prisoners star Jake Gyllenhaal. That seems to no longer be the case.
Villeneuve, who is busy promoting his latest Arrakis-set sci-fi epic, was asked by the Norwegian outlet VG (via World of Reel) about the HBO project, which is an adaptation of Jo Nesbo’s novel of the same name. He said:
“I love the project. And I love the book and the author. He is very talented. The script for the adaptation is also excellent, but I feel it is beyond my capabilities to tackle this one at the moment.”
According to World of Reel, Villeneuve was apparently scouting locations in Norway. It looked for a moment that it might be Villeneuve’s next project, as he perhaps wanted to go back to small-scale filmmaking for a bit.
However, based on recent news, this makes a lot of sense. Villeneuve is set to be focusing on three projects at the moment, though which one will be next is up in the air. There’s the adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous With Rama, which he signed on to do back in 2021; the Cleopatra movie he’s been committed to for years, and a Dune threequel. That last one is bound to happen, but Villeneuve has been vocal about wanting to stay out of that fictional galaxy on his next project. Will he be able to?
So far, early reactions for Dune: Part Two are putting it over the top. It’s always hard to say how much of all of these early reactions is hyperbole and how many will sustain after general audiences get to watch it on March 1. But the buzz coming out of the studio has been extremely positive for a long time, and WB is said to be extremely optimistic about their collaboration with Denis Villeneuve on an adaptation of Dune: Messiah, which is rumored to be eyeing a 2027 release.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
