Denis Villeneuve has spoken about his journey translating Dune from page to screen and has revealed that there is one particular reference he wishes he could have included in his movie.
IGN's Jim Vejvoda recently attended a roundtable interview with Villeneuve, in which the director discussed the challenge of making his film adaptation accessible to both hardcore fans and Dune newcomers. He explained that he focused on "some specific elements" from Frank Herbert's seminal sci-fi saga, which unfortunately meant others had to be omitted.
"From the start, I knew that I would like to focus on some specific elements," Villeneuve said of his approach. "Because when you adapt, necessarily you transform. The idea was to be as close to the spirit of the book as possible, to be as close to the poetry. I am a massive fan of Dune. It's a book that stayed with me for over 35 years, and it's a book that I deeply know."
Villeneuve admitted it was difficult to find the equilibrium in order to satisfy fans of the book as well as mainstream audiences. Ultimately, he had to decide what to include and exclude from the book for his movie and as a result of that process Gurney Halleck's nine-stringed musical instrument, better known as the baliset, ended up on the cutting room floor.
"I will say something to you guys… there's one thing that it's painful for me," Villeneuve confessed at the recent roundtable interview. "It's Gurney Halleck's baliset. It's something that I shot. It's something that exists. Josh [Brolin] was awesome, but for several reasons, I wasn't able to put it in Part One."
Josh Brolin portrays Duke Leto's gruff chief officer in the upcoming movie. As a warrior and poet-musician, Gurney instructs Paul Atreides in the military arts, including the use of energy shields and daggers to combat their mortal enemies, the Harkonnens, but we now know that the multi-talented master-of-arms will be saving his baliset-playing for another day.
The lute-like instrument did, however, make an appearance in the extended release of David Lynch's 1984 movie, which starred Sir Patrick Stewart as Halleck. In this version, Halleck, much like the character from the book, toted around the musical zither so that he could occasionally swap swords for strings and break out into a freestyle jam session.
While Villeneuve's Dune will be baliset-free, there is a chance it could appear in Dune Part 2 if Warner Bros. greenlights the project. Villeneuve has already stated that he would love to bring the follow-up to the screen "as soon as possible" and is planning to shoot Part 2 in 2022, should the movie get the approval it needs to move out of the starting blocks.
As it currently stands, however, Dune Part 1 is set to simultaneously release in theaters and on HBO Max on October 22. The movie had its world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival on September 3, and the first impressions of the star-studded sci-fi epic have started to emerge. Read IGN's review of Dune by clicking here.
Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.