Auteur director Christopher Nolan had made headlines when it was revealed that people weren’t allowed to sit in his sets, and it looks like Dune director Denis Villeneuve also has a specific quirk when it comes to his productions.
Talking to LA Times, Villeneuve reveals that phones aren’t allowed on his set (much like Christopher Nolan’s). He says:
“Cinema is an act of presence. When a painter paints, he has to be absolutely focused on the color he’s putting on the canvas. It’s the same with the dancer when he does a gesture. With a filmmaker, you have to do that with a crew, and everybody has to focus and be entirely in the present, listening to each other, being in relationship with each other. So cellphones are banned on my set too, since Day 1. It’s forbidden. When you say cut, you don’t want someone going to his phone to look at his Facebook account.”
When Villeneuve was asked about his policy on chairs though, he did share that a back problem had forced him to do more of Dune on his feet. He continues, “My cinematographer, Greig Fraser, and I decided to stand, to have minimal footprints so we could be flexible and go fast, to keep the blood flowing, to be awakened. No chairs for us. Maybe for the producers at the video village.”
With sets having to be one well-oiled machine most of he time, it would make sense for directors to try and minimize distractions. One fun rule about a Quentin Tarantino set is that nobody is allowed to fall asleep, lest they incur the wrath of ‘Big Jerry’.
For now, Villeneuve is gearing up for one more Dune movie to complete his trilogy. Fans don’t know exactly what to expect, but it’s said that he’s going to fully embrace the cautionary tale of Paul Atreides that flew over the heads of a lot of Frank Herbert fans.
Dune: Messiah is rumoured to be planning a release in December 2026.
