Dune Part Two: Director Fulfills Dying Man’s Wish Of Seeing The Film Before Release
In early January, a terminally ill man expressed his final wish to see Dune Part Two before its release. This caught the attention of the director, Denis Villeneuve, who arranged an early screening of the film for the dying fan more than a month before its theatrical release.
Dune Part Two is the continuation of an otherwise fantastical movie on its own, based on the work of Frank Herbert’s Dune in 1965. However, an anonymous Frenchman, being a devoted fan of the genre, expressed his dying wish to see Part Two prior to its theatrical release, a wish that caught the attention of its director.
In an interview with the Washington Post, the founder of the L’Avant charity, Joseé Gagnon, told of the terminally ill patient who, in early January, was told he had only a few weeks to live. He had hoped to see the debut of Dune Part Two, but it wasn’t to premiere until two months later.
Termed by Gagnon as a “race against the clock,” L’Avant was moved and motivated by the fan’s final wish, contributing to this franchise. Therefore, L’Avant took to Facebook to spread this story and ideally contact Denis Villeneuve, the director of Dune Part Two, himself to hopefully arrange an early screening.
The charity organizer quotes Villeneuve and his wife, Tanya Lapointe, saying, “They were extremely touched by this man’s dying will. I was told, ‘He is precisely what movies are made for,‘” referencing Villeneuve’s commitment as a director to the spirit of filmmaking and presenting.
One of Villeneuve’s assistants flew out in January to the facility where the patient was staying with the director’s laptop, which contained full access to the film.
There, the screening took place behind closed curtains, tucked away cellphones, and hushed voices. Despite only being able to go through half of the lengthy film, the man’s wish was at last fulfilled, as he was able to see the film weeks before its official release to the public.
This act shows Villeneuve as a director not motivated by anything but solely by his devotion to the art of filmmaking and the effect it has on people. This move by Villeneuve to risk the value of his film prior to its release to fulfill a single man’s wish captures the exact essence of what kind of director he is and what kind of films he intends to make.
To finish off with a quote by Gagnon, “This man who had a very difficult start to life saw extremely important people mobilize themselves to fulfill his final will.“
He passed away a few days later.
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