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At the 94th Academy Awards in 2022, Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” was nominated in 10 categories: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, and Best Make-Up and Hairstyling. Conspicuously missing from that capacious list was, of course, Best Director — a truly mystifying omission on the part of the Academy considering Villeneuve pulled off the impossible by successfully adapting Frank Herbert’s supposedly “unfilmable” book.
At the time, one of the movie’s stars, Josh Brolin, was very unhappy about Denis Villeneuve’s Oscars snub for “Dune.” The actor, who had previously worked with Villeneuve on “Sicario” and plays House Atreides Warmaster Gurney Halleck in the “Dune” films, posted a video to Instagram where he described the decision as “almost numbing” and “flummoxing,” even while he congratulated his other “Dune” colleagues on their nominations. Despite Brolin’s protestations, however, the Oscars went ahead and the movie won in a few categories. Most notably, the visual effects of “Dune” won in what was surely a well deserved victory.
But now, following the release of “Dune: Part Two” in March 2024, Villeneuve has another chance at Oscar success in 2025, and it seems if things don’t go Brolin’s way, he’s going to give up acting altogether.
Josh Brolin is ready to retire if Denis Villeneuve is snubbed again
Speaking to Variety, Josh Brolin reiterated his respect for Denis Villeneuve’s work on the “Dune” movies and revealed that he’s willing to drop acting altogether if the Academy fails to recognize the director’s work on “Dune 2.” “If he doesn’t get nominated this year, I’ll quit acting,” said the 56-year old, adding:
“It was a better movie than the first one. When I watched it, it felt like my brain was broken open. It’s masterful, and Denis is one of our master filmmakers. If the Academy Awards have any meaning whatsoever, they’ll recognize him.”
Villeneuve has been nominated for an Academy Award three times, once as the director of “Arrival” and twice for “Dune” (in the Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay categories). But he’s yet to take home any of the awards, which has evidently upset Brolin a great deal. The actor is clearly a big fan of the French Canadian filmmaker’s work in general, but has spoken particularly highly of “Dune: Part Two.” During the press run for the film, he even told the Associated Press he was planning to stay at the film’s various premieres just to see it multiple times:
“I’ve seen it one time and I know I’ll see it again. You know, you go, ‘We’re doing a premiere but let’s leave because we’ve already seen it 10 times’ and all that. [With ‘Dune: Part 2’] you go, ‘No I want to stay for this one, because I want more, yeah, I want more of it.'”
Will Villeneuve be nominated for Dune 2?
Denis Villeneuve being overlooked by the Academy in 2022 wasn’t the only “Dune”-related controversy. Many felt that the incredible makeup of “Dune” should have won an Oscar, but instead it lost out to the muddled “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.” What’s more, this was an award that was controversially precluded from the live broadcast and handed out off-screen, prompting yet more consternation. In the build up to the 2025 awards, the Oscars have already courted controversy by banning Hans Zimmer’s “Dune 2” score from competing, so things aren’t looking much better this time around.
Regardless of whether Villeneuve is nominated, wins, or is completely snubbed once again, there’s no doubt that both “Dune” movies stand as technical marvels and truly impressive achievements. Does Villeneuve deserve an Oscar nomination? Absolutely. Does it matter if he doesn’t get one? Well, as Brolin himself said during his original Instagram video on the topic of Villeneuve’s snub, “I don’t know how you get 10 nominations and then the guy who has done the impossible with that book doesn’t get nominated. It makes you realize that it’s all amazing and then it’s all f*****g totally dumb.” Indeed it is, Josh Brolin, so please don’t quit acting if these silly awards don’t go your way.