I was really looking forward to Dune when it comes out but this interview makes me wonder if Villeneuve actually understands what the novel is about.
For Villeneuve, this 55-year-old story about a planet being mined to death was not merely a space adventure, but a prophecy. “No matter what you believe, Earth is changing, and we will have to adapt,” he says. “That’s why I think that Dune, this book, was written in the 20th century. It was a distant portrait of the reality of the oil and the capitalism and the exploitation—the overexploitation—of Earth. Today, things are just worse. It’s a coming-of-age story, but also a call for action for the youth.”
It's not a distant portrait of the reality of oil and capitalism, if you had actually read the series you would know that. The reason why Arrakis is a desert planet is explained in Children of Dune and it has nothing to do with overexploitation of natural resources by people. Herbert wrote Dune and the subsequent books in the series based upon the idea that charismatic leaders were dangerous. In fact his famous quote on the matter is "I wrote the Dune Saga because I had this idea that charismatic leaders ought to come with the warning label 'May Be Dangerous To Your Health'" something he said numerous times.
In an intriguing change to the source material, Villeneuve has also updated Dr. Liet Kynes, the leading ecologist on Arrakis and an independent power broker amid the various warring factions. Although always depicted as a white man, the character is now played by Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Rogue One), a black woman. “What Denis had stated to me was there was a lack of female characters in his cast, and he had always been very feminist, pro-women, and wanted to write the role for a woman,” Duncan-Brewster says. “This human being manages to basically keep the peace amongst many people. Women are very good at that, so why can’t Kynes be a woman? Why shouldn’t Kynes be a woman?”
Aside from Herbert describing Kynes face in detail in chapter one I don't have a problem with you deciding to change Kynes to a woman if you thought that her performance of the role was the best one, but how the hell could you claim to have done it because of a lack of female characters in the bloody cast. Off the top of my head I can think of nearly 10 female characters, most of them pivotal in one way or another in the novel:
Lady Jessica Atreides
Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam
Princess Irulan
Chani Kynes/Atreides
Alia Atreides
Shadout Mapes
Margot Fenring
Harah
Reverend Mother Ramallo
Not to mention the entire bloody Bene Gesserit order.
Are you saying that they aren't going to be included in the film? Good luck with trying to rewrite the plot then. If you are going to change the gender of a character then at least be honest about why you are doing it instead of blowing smoke up our arses.
Dune should be in the perfect position to eclipse Star Wars as one of, if not the biggest science fiction film franchise after the disasters that have come out under Disney and Kennedy Granted that the article does tend to read as if it was written by an intern who had skimmed through the Dummies Guide to Dune (I was even half expecting to read them describe Paul as a Jedi wizard Greta Thunberg) but as much as I want to be wrong about it I'm starting to have reservations about this adaptation.
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/04/behold-dune-an-exclusive-look-at-timothee-chalamet-zendaya-oscar-isaac#intcid=recommendations_default-popular_72a30b17-66f4-4fd6-8e5d-8c63b6ded434_popular4-1
