Quentin Tarantino says he has no interest in watching Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune movies.
Quentin Tarantino Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Quentin Tarantino shared that he has no desire to watch the new Dune or Shogun remakes, expressing a preference for original content over Hollywood’s repeated revisits. In contrast, he enjoyed Joker: Folie à Deux, despite its poor reception, admiring its musical sequences and its distinct, nihilistic tone.
The legendary filmmaker said
he's tired of seeing "one after another of this remake and that remake."
Quentin Tarantino, known for his bold opinions and sharp takes on cinema, recently expressed his disinterest in Hollywood’s trend of remakes. During an interview on The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast, the acclaimed filmmaker made it clear that he’s tired of seeing “one remake after another.”
When asked if he thought Dune: Part Two could be considered one of the best films of the year, Tarantino admitted he hasn’t seen it—and has no plans to do so. “I saw [David Lynch’s] Dune a couple of times. I don’t need to see that story again,” Tarantino candidly stated. “I don’t need to see spice worms. I don’t need to see a movie that says the word ‘spice’ so dramatically.”
The filmmaker’s reluctance has nothing against Denis Villeneuve personally. Instead, it reflects his exhaustion with Hollywood’s tendency to remake rather than innovate. “It’s just one remake after another,” he elaborated. “People ask, ‘Have you seen Dune? Have you seen Ripley? Have you seen Shogun?’ And I’m like no, no, no, no. There’s six or seven Ripley books—why are we doing the same one again for the third time? I’ve seen it twice, and I didn’t like either version much. So I’m not interested in seeing it a third time. If they did a new story, maybe I’d be interested.”
Tarantino didn’t hold back about Shogun, either: “I saw Shogun in the ‘80s. I watched all 13 hours. I’m good. I don’t need to see that story again, I don’t care how they do it. Even if they took me back to ancient Japan in a time machine—I’ve seen that story.”
However, Tarantino’s disdain for remakes doesn’t extend to all recent releases. The Pulp Fiction director shared that he actually enjoyed Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux. Despite the film’s lackluster box office performance and critical reception, Tarantino found it compelling. “I really, really liked it. A lot. Tremendously,” he shared. “I went in expecting to be impressed by the filmmaking, but thought it would be an arms-length, intellectual exercise that wouldn’t work as a movie. Instead, I found myself caught up in it.”
Tarantino appreciated the chaotic nature of the Joker sequel, admitting that he’s “nihilistic enough” to enjoy a movie that doesn’t fully come together. He praised the musical elements, particularly noting that “the more banal the songs were, the better they worked.”
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