Dune Cinematographer Had to Forget His Star Wars Work While Shooting the Remake

Dune remake cinematographer Greg Fraser had to forget about his Star Wars franchise work when collaborating with Denis Villeneuve. Fraser is in high demand these days and previously worked on The Mandalorian and Rogue One before joining forces with Villeneuve. The director caused a bit of a controversy a few years ago when he stated that he wanted his Dune remake to be like Star Wars, “but for adults.” Some fans did not enjoy hearing those remarks from Villeneuve, even though he is a fan of the franchise.

When it comes down to it, Denis Villeneuve wanted something completely new for the Dune remake in terms of visuals. Coming from a Star Wars background for Greg Fraser had to have been tricky since George Lucas was undoubtedly influenced by Frank Herbert’s source material when he crafted A New Hope. However, Fraser says it wasn’t too difficult. He explains.

“It was quite fun because I had to forget a lot of Star Wars when I was making Dune. It wasn’t hard, though. Denis and I spoke clearly about how the film should look and should feel, and the formats and this and that, so it was not hard to swerve and change lanes. There were some similarities like the deserts. I mean listen, ultimately I’m positive George Lucas was inspired by Dune when he made Star Wars. I don’t know if that’s sacrilegious to talk about, but there are a lot of similarities in some areas, so you could tell he was definitely influenced by that. So I had to be careful doing both [Dune and The Mandalorian] and not to repeat myself. Also not just for the sake of the movie, but for fun. I hate to do the same thing twice.”

We have yet to see any footage from Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, though we have seen a number of official images. The movie is all set to hit theaters at the end of the year and Frank Herbert fans are starting to get a little antsy, especially since rumors have been swirling about the movie being amazing from inside sources who have seen unfinished cuts. Greg Fraser also teased what the experience will be like when the movie opens. He had this to say.

“It’s a fully formed story in itself with places to go. It’s a fully standalone epic film that people will get a lot out of when they see it… It was quite an adventure visually. It was a beautiful experience making it. The people involved with it, I was overwhelmed. Some of the actors, as well as being insanely talented actors, are just lovely, lovely people who I’ve become very close to since then.”

With the first Dune installment in the post-production process, it’s only a matter of time before production starts ramping up on the sequel. While the entertainment industry has been put on hold for the past three months, it looks like things are going to get back to some form of normal in the coming weeks. James Cameron is already back to work in New Zealand on Avatar 2 and Matt Reeves will be able to start up work on The Batman shortly.

With so much excitement in the air about Dune, one has to wonder when the studio will give us the first footage. Obviously, Denis Villeneuve wants to have people experience his labor of love on the big screen, which means that the first trailer could come attached to Christopher Nolan’s Tenet next month. While we wait to finds out, you can check out the rest of the interview with Greg Fraser over at Collider.

Topics: Dune, Star Wars