The COVID-19 pandemic forced the movie industry to change in unpredictable ways. For some people, it was easy to readjust to the new situation while others struggled a bit more, like the upcoming Dune adaptation director, Denis Villeneuve. In a recent interview for the Shanghai International Film Festival (via Indiewire), Villeneuve confessed that the global emergency completely messed up his working schedule and he might have to work overtime to finish the movie on schedule.
“I was planning to go back and shoot some elements later because I wanted to readjust the movie,” the director said. “Time was a luxury that I had. I didn’t know that it would be a pandemic. So when the virus hit North America as we were about to go back to do those elements, the impact was that it crushed my schedule right now. It will be a sprint to finish the movie on time right now because we were allowed to go back to shoot those elements in a few weeks. It also meant that I have to finish some elements of the movie, like VFX and the editing, being in Montreal as my crew stayed in Los Angeles.”
You can watch the full interview in the player below.
RELATED: Dune Star Jason Momoa Compares His Duncan Idaho to Han Solo
Villeneuve went on to add that he did his best to edit it in his home in Montreal. Editing a movie together with his historical collaborators is not the same as working alone.
“As a director, there are things that you can do remotely to deal with technology,” he said. “The supervision of VFX with some equipment is easy to do from afar but, editing, for me, the big lesson from this is I thought it would be possible to edit at a distance. With my editor sharing equipment, being afar from one [another], but I realize how much editing is like playing music with someone, and you need to be in the same room. There’s something about the interaction, human interaction, the spontaneity, the energy in the room. I really miss not being in the same room as my editor. It’s very, very painful.”
Denis Villeneuve will return to Europe together with his crew later this summer to complete additional filming. According to Warner Bros.’ plans, Dune will hit theaters on December 18.
Do you think that the COVID-19 outbreak will impact Dune‘s outcome? Let us know what you think in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Dune (Penguin Galaxy)
