Director Denis Villeneuve arranged an early screening of Dune: Part Two for a dying fan more than a month before the film came to theaters.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Josée Gagnon, founder of Canadian charity L’Avant, told the story of a palliative care facility patient’s dying wish. The individual, a French man in his 50s whose identity is being kept secret, had hoped to see Dune: Part Two but, in early January, was only given a few weeks to live. With the sequel’s premiere not set till March, L’Avant stepped in, laying the groundwork on Facebook to, hopefully, get in contact with Villeneuve and arrange for the person to see the film early.
Gagnon called the effort a “race against the clock,” but the wish came true. One of Villeneuve’s assistants was able to fly out to where the patient was staying with the director’s laptop — and access to the full film — in tow on January 16.
The screening was a private moment that saw curtains closed and cellphones tucked away, and it allowed the man to see the film weeks before its global premiere. Although he was only able to make it through about half of the nearly three-hour movie, Gagnon explained in a separate post that it was all worth it because “this man who had had a very difficult start to life saw extremely important people mobilize to fulfill his final will.” He died only a few days later.
Gagnon says the man’s time with the movie was “worth all the gold in the world.” Villeneuve and his wife, Tanya Lapointe, seemed to agree, as the charity organizer says they were impacted by his story.
“They were extremely touched by this man's dying will. I was told ‘He is precisely what movies are made for,’ ” Gagnon said.
Dune: Part Two delivered the latest chapter in Paul Atreides’ saga last week on March 1, walking away from its opening weekend with a global total of $178.5 million. Its story adapts a section of Frank Herbert’s original Dune books, and there is still plenty from the source material left to tackle. Dune Messiah is Villeneuve’s next spice hill to climb, though we at least know that the director has made solid progress so far. With its script nearly finished, it might not be too long before we finally see what a completed Dune trilogy would look like. Villeneuve said in January, however, that he has no plans to create a fourth film.
In our 8/10 Dune: Part Two review, we said, “Featuring absolutely staggering visuals, Dune: Part Two is an arresting, transportive middle entry in Denis Villeneuve’s tricky sci-fi saga.”
For more on Dune, be sure to read our interview with the person behind the real-life, rideable sandworm contraption that went viral over the weekend. You should also check out some of the Stilgar memes that started floating around the internet since the sequel’s release.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
