Here’s the plot: Popular 56-year-old actor threatens the voting body behind the most revered award in cinema with his retirement if they fail to deliver on his desired nomination. While that may sound like an A24 dark comedy waiting to happen, it’s actually Josh Brolin’s reality, as he has threatened to never act again if director Denis Villeneuve doesn’t receive an Oscar nomination for Dune: Part Two.
Speaking with Variety, Brolin, who plays gritty soldier and loyal mentor Gurney Halleck, doesn’t see any logical reason why Villeneuve’s 166-minute epic sequel to 2021’s Dune shouldn’t garner him some Oscar nominations. He believes it so strongly, he’s willing to put his career on the line for it. “If he doesn’t get nominated this year, I’ll quit acting,” Brolin says. “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.”
Not only is his career in jeopardy, but so, as Brolin sees it, is the integrity of the Academy Awards. “If the Academy Awards have any meaning whatsoever, they’ll recognize him,” Brolin said. While the stakes of Brolin’s current Oscar wager are higher, his delivery of it is much tamer than that in a video he posted a few years ago when Villeneuve failed to receive a directing nomination for the first Dune, even though the film received ten. In that video, posted to his personal Instagram page, Brolin was very close to calling the entire award stupid.
“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 fucking totally dumb.”
This year’s Oscar nominations are set to be revealed on January 17. According to Brolin’s IMDB, he has two films in production, Weapon and The Running Man, and will more than likely appear in the third Dune film. So, either the Academy gets it right, or else we riot.