Several of the key characters had to say goodbye in Dune: Part Two, despite the film proving to be a hit at the box office. Recently, director Denis Villeneuve talked about the tough choices he had to make when shooting the second instalment of Frank Herbert’s novel series.
The film has already captured the hearts of all critics and is slowly attracting the attention of audiences. During this, Entertainment Weekly got the opportunity to interview the Blade Runner 2049 filmmaker for their cover story.
During the conversation, Denis Villeneuve revealed a character he opted to skip, stating that he had to be harsh on his decisions. He said, “One of the most painful choices for me on this one was Thufir Hawat.”
The director also added, “He’s a character I absolutely love, but I decided right at the beginning that I was making a Bene Gesserit adaptation. That meant that Mentats are not as present as they should be, but it’s the nature of the adaptation.”
When it comes to making harsh judgments, Denis stated, “When you adapt, there’s always some kind of violence toward the original material. You have to change things, you have to bend, and you have to make painful choices.”
Stephen McKinley Henderson portrayed Thufir Hawat in the first Dune movie. He was shown to be a Mentat, a type of human computer trained to perform complex mathematical computations and a member of House Atreides.
Since artificial intelligence has been prohibited in the world of Dune by a movement known as the Butlerian Jihad, these human computers have been trained from a young age to perform strategic calculations.
Another difference between the film’s story and the original story is that Chani, a Fremen warrior, is more independent. In the books, however, she lacks courage and does not oppose the rise of Paul Atreides.