What’s so special about Zhang zhen joining the Hollywood blockbuster Dune？

1905 movie network news　On April 16th, Zhang zhen released Weibo: "New world, new identity, Dr. Yue is ready".Below the text, there is a stills with a cold face and a determined look.This stills, from the film directed by Villeneuve.— — .

As the most important science fiction movie in 2020,Dune has an outstanding cast.In the released stills, Hollywood first-line filmmakers such as Sweet Tea (Timothée Chalamet), Thanos (josh brolin), Neptune (Jason Momoa), Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, oscar isaac and javier bardem gathered together.

The momentum is enough, as if the roof could be "overturned".It is reported that Sweet Tea and Rebecca are the first set of actors.Sweet Tea will lead the film’s leading role, son of Duke Leto e Cui Di — — "Paul Cui Di",; Rebecca will play the role of Paul’s mother, the concubine of the Duke of Cui Di, and a member of the Sisterhood of Beni Jeslitt — — "Mrs Jessica".

Zhang zhen, who is eagerly awaited by the domestic audience, will play the role of Dr. Suk of the UrCui Di family — — Wellington Yue.

Although more materials have not been announced, the hearts of science fiction fans all over the world have been boiling.After all, the original novel Dune is a famous "masterpiece" in the history of world science fiction.

Why Dune?

Dune, written in 1965, is the representative work of Frank Herbert, a master of science fiction.

It tells the story that in a "mysterious future like the Middle Ages", human beings have evolved to instantly complete interstellar travel through telepathy. In order to avenge his dead father, Paul, the son of the Duke, saved his strength and bravely undertook the heavy responsibility of family rejuvenation, leading freeman people to defeat the family feud and finally making the emperor of the Galactic Empire yield.

Although at first glance, Dune is just a space opera with the flavor of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, there is not much innovation in the plot.But Frank Herbert, with his wild imagination,Wang YangIt took eight years to successfully build a "dune world" — — The planet elacos.

On this planet, sandstorms are rampant and resources are scarce. Only the precious spice "Meilangzhi" has attracted all parties to fight and blood.And intrigue, cunning, are quietly integrated in the narrative as smooth as water.

Rather than saying that Dune is a great science fiction work, it is better to say that Herbert devoted his whole life to building a complete world outlook with words as an axe, including language, religion, culture and customs, which made future generations stand aloof.

Since its birth, the "Dune" series has been extended to as many as six with its grand world outlook and strong humanistic spirit, and has won the wide love of science fiction fans all over the world.It is not only the first work to win Hugo Award and Xingyun Award at the same time, but also one of the benchmarks in the history of modern science fiction and a well-deserved monument in the history of science fiction.

Why is it so difficult to film Dune?

Arthur C clark, a famous British science fiction writer, once commented on Dune, calling it"The existence of science fiction is unique, and only The Lord of the Rings can match it.".

However, such a monumental system, which is full of details and involves complex topics such as military affairs, religion, ecology and human nature, is doomed to be difficult to film and television.In 1970s, Mexican director alexandro jodorowsky was the first "crab eater".

After becoming famous for his novels with magical realism, such as The Mole and The Holy Mountain, Zodulov set his sights on Dune with the intention of turning this "myth" that only exists in the text into a work that the audience can appreciate on the screen.Undoubtedly, the obscurity and strong philosophical meaning of Dune coincide with the fantastic style and profound religious spirit in Zodulov’s works.

However, the asking price of $15 million successfully scared off the production company (the success of the 2013 documentary "Dune of Zodulov" seemed like an interesting irony).The plan ran aground, and the Mexican director had to give up the arrangement of filming the sand dunes.Until 1984.David LynchTake the baton.

At that time, Lynch’s "golden age" had not yet arrived, and the works that made him famous in the world had not yet been born.In view of the numerous original works and complicated details of Dune, Lynch is also a director with a very personal style. Although the film version of Dune was successfully published this time, it received almost one-sided bad reviews.

The "magic change" of the original work is one of the most dissatisfied points for original fans.In the film, Lynch drastically deleted many supporting subplots, including Count Hasimir, and alsoBartrein inThe time of jihad and the age of some characters have been revised. At the same time, the director finally failed to master the final editing right, which also became an important reason for the fiasco of Lynch’s Dune.

With the failure of making Dune into a movie, the dramatist used his brains to make it into an American TV series, but the 2000 edition of Dune’s Magic Castle and the 2004 edition of Dune’s Son (starring Yimei) failed to achieve the expected results.

When this baton was handed over to director Villeneuve, it was already 2016.At that time, Dune has become a "hot potato" that everyone can’t avoid.

Why Villeneuve?

As early as a teenager, Villeneuve read the original Dune.

However, the adaptation of Dune is notoriously difficult. In addition, after the failure of the American TV series in 2004, both versions of Paramount were "ruined" because of unsatisfactory funds and scripts, and the adaptation of Dune was basically out of reach.Amazingly, I just finished filming.Blade runner 2049Villeneuve, suddenly received the news that Legendary Pictures bought back the adaptation rights of Dune.

Perhaps Villeneuve’s love for Dune touched the producers, and the more reliable reason is that Villeneuve may be the most suitable candidate to take over the adaptation task of Dune.Earlier, Villeneuve had relied onSuccessfully made a name for himself in Hollywood and became one of the hottest directors.

The cool and rational palm mirror style and unique aesthetic tendency make Villeneuve known by the industry and fans as "the most master after Stanley Kubril".

The rhythmic narrative style and dreamy atmosphere made him finish the shooting of excellent films such as Blade Runner 2049.

What’s more, among the existing sci-fi movie master, Spielberg has some classics, but most of them take a warm approach; Lei’s "The Opposite Sex" are all excellent works, but he seems to have little interest in "Dune". Nolan’s narrative level can be achieved, but his style is somewhat different from the original dune.

On the whole, Villeneuve is the most suitable candidate at present.

According to Vanity Fair, Villeneuve revealed that the film Dune only covers the first half of the story, because "the world in the book is too complicated, and it takes many details to show such a huge world".At the same time, Villeneuve also "added" many scenes to the role of Paul’s mother "Jessica". Due to the lack of female characters in the film, Villeneuve also changed the role of Ritter Keynes from male to female.

Of course, Dr. Yue, played by Zhang zhen, who is most concerned by everyone, will also play a role in some important turning points of the plot.

It is reported that "Dr. Yue" will be forced to become the undercover of Hakeni because of his wife’s capture, and finally protect the Duke of Leto to a certain extent, and prepare a back road for Paul and Jessica to escape.Although Zhang zhen is not the protagonist this time, he is the successor.Jiang WenandDonnie YenInAfter that, Chinese people participated in another example of shooting heavy science fiction films.

I hope that Zhang zhen can play a brilliant role in this film version of Dune, and I also hope that more China actors will have the opportunity to participate in international productions.In an open interview, Villeneuve once said that adapting Dune was "the most difficult thing I have done so far".

Dune, known as the spiritual mentor of "Star Wars", is naturally difficult to adapt.However, it is undoubtedly a rare carnival for science fiction fans all over the world that the "Wei Shen" who has fully proved his ability through "Blade Runner 2049" and "Coming" can take over the adaptation task.After waiting for so many years, Dune is finally on the big screen again.

With the progress of technology and film industrialization, it is believed that the "hard bones" as difficult as Dune will be made into films.So we can see it on the screenThree-body, Base and Ender’s GameThe days of Hyperion,It’s not too far.Every time human beings face up to their own smallness, it is a great progress for themselves.