Toronto (Canada) (AFP)

At the Toronto Film Festival, the Canadian Denis Villeneuve was able to fulfill one of his dreams on Saturday for his adaptation of "Dune": a projection on the very big screen and immersive, which is "the right way to see the film".

This masterpiece of science fiction, which made the event at the Venice Film Festival last week, is a masterpiece of science fiction, of which no adaptation had so far really convinced .

"You receive all the power of the landscapes, and at the same time it is the best way to become intimate with the characters", explains Denis Villeneuve.

The Canadian director of "Sicario", "Premier Contact" or even "Blade Runner 2049" has chosen a panel of stars for the interpretation: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem or Zendaya.

Denis Villeneuve had severely criticized the decision of a double release in North America, on October 22, both in cinema and on the small screen via HBO Max, the streaming platform of the American giant WarnerMedia.

This decision announced in the midst of a pandemic, when the cinemas were not yet reopened, respects "neither the love for the cinema, nor for the public" had denounced the director.

His fear is also that it will hurt the film's box office performance and doom a possible sequel.

The film only takes up the plot of the first part of Frank Herbert's first book.

In this saga, tribes and potentates clash, millennia after our era, for control of the spice, a blend that prolongs life, offers prophetic powers and enables space travel.

Denis Villeneuve told the Toronto red carpet on Saturday that if a sequel was "that would be fantastic".

"I've just laid the groundwork - the world is explained to the audience now. + Dune two + would be pure cinematic pleasure for me."

Rebecca Ferguson, who plays royal concubine Lady Jessica, said she also didn't know anything about the possible sequel, but dreams of it.

"Did he write it? I don't know. I hope," she told AFP.

"Unless he's holding someone else back," she adds.

With the first of the six volumes of the "Dune" cycle, Frank Herbert laid the foundations in 1965 for a "space opera" which would become a major work of science fiction, with considerable influence, in Star Wars in particular.

Holding at the same time Greek tragedy, biblical myth and medieval epic, "Dune" seemed cut for the cinema.

However, it drags the reputation of cursed film par excellence, several directors having broken their teeth.

The adaptation of the famous David Lynch, released in 1984, had been a commercial flop.

© 2021 AFP