Austin Butler is sharing the inspiration behind his performance in Dune: Part Two!
27.02.2024 - 06:21 / variety.com
Michaela Zee When “Dune: Part Two” star Stellan Skarsgård saw Austin Butler as the cruel and sadistic Feyd-Rautha for the first time, he laughed. “I laughed so much because it was so obvious that he really enjoyed being evil,” Skarsgård told Variety at the “Dune: Part Two” premiere Sunday night in New York City. Butler’s Feyd-Rautha is the younger nephew and heir of Skarsgård’s Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, who originally appeared in Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 sci-fi epic “Dune.” Butler studied Skarsgård’s voice performance in the first chapter to bring his version of Feyd-Rautha to life.
“It was like hearing an echo,” Skarsgård said of Butler’s voice in the film. “It was very, very precise.” Set on the desert planet Arrakis, “Dune: Part Two” resumes the story of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), who joins forces with the Fremen to wage war against House Harkonnen. The second chapter stars Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Léa Seydoux, Dave Bautista, Charlotte Rampling, Souheila Yacoub, Javier Bardem, Christopher Walken and Skarsgård.
Anya Taylor-Joy, who attended the U.S. premiere in New York City, will also appear in the sequel in an undisclosed role. Walken was already familiar with the world of “Dune” before working on Villeneuve’s sequel, as he had read Frank Herbert’s seminal 1965 sci-fi novel when he was young, as well as watched David Lynch’s 1984 film adaptation.
Austin Butler is sharing the inspiration behind his performance in Dune: Part Two!
Dune: Part Two has become one of the defining blockbusters of 2024, but not all the attention has been around the film itself.Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the sequel picks up as Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) unites with the Fremen people on Arrakis to wage war against House Harkonnen.Along with Chalamet, the film stars Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Javier Bardem and Austin Butler.Dune: Part Two managed to earn $200million at the worldwide box office within its first week, making it the highest-grossing film of the year so far.Sandworm
Austin Butler has revealed to NME that he drew inspiration from Gary Oldman and Heath Ledger for his performance in Dune: Part Two.Butler plays the role of Feyd-Rautha, the villainous nephew of and heir to Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), in Denis Villeneuve’s new film.When asked if there were any classic movie bad guys that he took a lead from while preparing to play the role, Butler said that it was the broad career work of the two stars that motivates him.“I’ve always been inspired by Gary Oldman in many of his roles,” he said. “Léon: The Professional, or True Romance, or The Fifth Element.”“And you know, we’ve talked about Heath Ledger a lot, the sense of play that he had.
The thawing of the winter box office continues this weekend with Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4 which is bound to see the franchise’s second highest domestic opening at $50M+ at 3,900 theaters after the original 2008 movie ($60.2M). But that’s not all, it’s also the second biggest start for a DWA title after Universal acquired the label from its 20th Century Fox distribution deal; the biggest during Universal’s 2.0 with DWA being How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World which debuted to $55M in March 2019. Kung Fu Panda 4 is skewing among males and females under 25. Previews start Thursday at 2PM. No RT review rating yet.
Dune: Part Two director Denis Villeneuve has revealed the character that it caused him the most “pain” to leave out of the new film.Part Two concludes the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 896-page, 1965 novel, following Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as he unites with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen to learn the ways of the desert, wage war on the forces that destroyed his family, and fulfil his destiny as the supposed chosen one.The film also stars Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Stellan Skarsgård and Dave Bautista.But now, Villeneuve has said that there are other actors that he feels regret for having to cut out of the film’s final edit.In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the director said: “When you adapt, there’s always some kind of violence toward the original material. You have to change things, you have to bend, you have to make painful choices.”“One of the most painful choices for me on this one was Thufir Hawat,” Villeneuve said, referring to the central character Paul Atreides’ mentor, who was to be played by Stephen McKinley Henderson (Lady Bird, Lincoln).Additionally, Tim Blake Nelson (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, O Brother Where Art Thou?) had also been announced for the film, but does not appear in the final cut.Nelson recently told Movieweb: “I had a great time over there shooting it.
Austin Butler is telling the story behind his onscreen kiss with Stellan Skarsgard in Dune: Part Two!
Zack Sharf Digital News Director Austin Butler confirmed in an interview with Access Hollywood that his kiss with co-star Stellan Skarsgård in “Dune: Part Two” was improvised on his behalf. The kiss between Butler’s Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen and Skarsgård’s Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is unexpected and creepy as the characters are nephew and uncle, but it reaffirms Feyd-Rautha’s devotion to his uncle and deep desire to be him. That’s also why Butler mimicked Skarsgård’s speaking voice while crafting his own accent for Feyd-Rautha.
according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The Post called the film, which is the second of a two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel “Dune” by Frank Herbert, a “sci-fi triumph that’s better than the first.”The sequel to the 2021 original stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem in reprising roles and welcomes Christopher Walken, Austin Butler and Florence Pugh to its cast.Remaining in second was “Bob Marley: One Love,” which was released on Valentine’s Day, with earnings of $1.92 million.“Ordinary Angels” stayed in third, with a just-over-$1 million-dollar take.
Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor In a stunning cinematic universe where sand dunes rise like mountains and the fate of galaxies hangs in the balance, Denis Villeneuve‘s first voyage into the Frank Herbert’s “Dune” saga clinched six of its 10 Oscar nominations. Yet, in a twist as dramatic as Dr.
Josh Brolin is explaining his fascination with poetry.
Jordan Moreau It’s finally time to return to Arrakis. Denis Villeneuve‘s “Dune: Part Two” has arrived, making a mighty $12 million in previews at the box office from more than 3,400 theaters. Big-screen Imax showings made up $4.5 million of that huge haul.
Dune: Part Two adapts the second half of Frank Herbert’s original 1965 novel, but the film makes some key changes from the book.Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the sequel to 2021’s Dune picks up as Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) unites with the Fremen people on Arrakis to wage war against House Harkonnen.Along with Chalamet, Dune: Part Two stars Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, Zendaya, Austin Butler and Florence Pugh.After being accepted as the Lisan al Gaib (an off-world prophet or messiah) of the Fremen, Paul Atreides leads them on an attack against Emperor Shaddam IV (Christopher Walken) and House Harkonnen. Through the Fremen’s faith in Paul, and by riding the sandworms, they manage to invade the capital city, Arrakeen.To avenge his father’s death, Paul kills Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård).
The stars of Dune: Part Two are celebrating the movie’s premiere in New York City!
Austin Butler‘s breakout came from a Method acting performance for the ages in Baz Luhrmann‘s “Elvis,” with the actor living in the role on camera and off for about three years. But Butler wasn’t about to do that for Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in “Dune: Part Two“.
“Dune: Part Two,” which hits theaters March 1.“I’ve definitely in the past, with ‘Elvis,’ explored living within that world for three years and that being the only thing that I think about day and night,” Butler told the Los Angeles Times in an interview with the movie’s director, Denis Villeneuve.“With Feyd, I knew that that would be unhealthy for my family and friends.”Butler was so immersed in playing Elvis Presley in “Elvis” that, for a long time after finishing his role on the movie, he still spoke in Presley’s Southern drawl.Villeneuve joked that, if Butler absorbed himself as much in Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen as he did with Presley, it would also be unhealthy for the director.“So I made a conscious decision to have a boundary,” Butler said. “It allowed for more freedom between action and cut because I knew I was going to protect everybody else outside of the context of what we were doing.“That’s not to say that it doesn’t bleed into your life,” he said.
Zendaya, Timothee Chalamet and Austin Butler are taking their high-profile, high-fashion promo tour for Dune: Part Two on the road!
As always, the 2024 Sundance Film Festival gave us several likely Oscar nominees. Keiran Culkin for “A Real Pain,” documentaries “Union” or “Daughters“,” and, potentially, Sebastian Stan for “A Different Man.” But there was no Best Picture player in the vein of “Past Lives” or “CODA” in Park City last month, at least, there didn’t seem to be.
Immense, remarkably captivating, imposing, and right on the edge of overblown, filmmaker Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two” is a spectacular blockbuster epic in the grandest sense of the tradition. Picking up where ‘Part One’ left off, this darker, bleaker, moodier sequel is a grand war movie but also a devastating cautionary tale about messiahs, idolatry, and the dangers of false gods.
Zendaya and Timothee Chalamet are wearing matching looks for their latest Dune: Part Two press stop!
Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Austin Butler and Florence Pugh pose for Entertainment Weekly‘s new digital cover!