Summary
- Hans Zimmer has been confirmed for work on Dune: Messiah’s score.
- Zimmer and filmmaker Villeneuve have been in constant communication.
- Production is expected to start soon.
Dune is heading towards its third installment, and one important cast member integral to the film franchise’s massive success has confirmed their return and given fans an update on how far along the film is at the moment.
The Dune franchise languished without a definitive live-action adaptation for decades despite being one of science fiction’s most successful properties due to the perceived (and demonstrably very real) difficulty in making such an adaptation work. However, this wouldn’t stop visionary filmmaker Denis Villeneuve from taking a massive swing at the problem and coming up green with 2021’s Dune, which seemed to do everything just right. This adaptation served not just longtime fans of the Dune books by author Frank Herbert, but also brought in a veritable dune sea of new fans as well. One of the highlights of the film was the score created by Hans Zimmer in collaboration with Villeneuve, using a focus on female vocals and Zimmer’s signature style to create resonant sequences that conveyed the ideas behind what really drove the film’s story, and subsequently brought the scenes to life.
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The film would of course see itself showered with award nominations and wins, with many of the accolades going to the score and Zimmer. For his part, Zimmer enjoyed the experience so much that he even went on to compose a second original score for the Dune franchise on the occasion of The Art and Soul of Dune releasing, and the two would collaborate once more on Dune: Part II. As such, it was almost guaranteed that Zimmer would be returning for the third film, Dune: Messiah, and now fans have gotten official confirmation and an extra titbit on the state of the project. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Zimmer confirmed his involvement and responded to questions about whether or not he was keeping in touch with the Dune director saying, “I talk to Denis every day. Yes, it’s happening sooner rather than later.”
Both sides of Zimmer’s answer are great news for Dune, as his return and Villeneuve’s constant communication show that their collaboration is going strong. This statement also seems to confirm the rumor that Dune: Messiah will begin filing this year, which is well ahead of schedule. While that’s still just a vague description of a production start date, it does mean that fans don’t have to worry about the film getting a far off release date. What fans should be worried about is the relationship between Villeneuve and Zimmer being the main hold the franchise has on the composer. With the director clearly not interested in returning for future installments and the production company forging ahead with plans for more anyway, it’s unclear if these films beyond Dune: Messiah will benefit from the same sort of artistic, scene enhancing score that the first two did.
The Dune franchise has joined the list of Zimmer’s best movie scores, and after running into what he described as a ‘stupid’ situation during awards season, it’s likely that the composer will come to the third installment with a vengeance.
The Dune franchise is available to stream on Max.
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