My first thought as well, but apparently the kid has acting chops. Multiple major acting award nominations for multiple roles in multiple movies that I've just haven't gotten around to watching.
From the book Paul Atreides is in his teens during the whole story with it starting with him at 15. He is described as being slight so Chalamet fits the description much more than Kyle MacLachian in the Dino DeLaurentis version. Chani too is supposed to be only in her teens during the story. Most movie and TV adaptions will cast young characters older because of things like child acting regulations and also for cultural acceptance. For example in the GOT books Daenrys is only 13 when she's married to Khal Drogo and Jon Snow is 15 or 16 when he joins the Night Watch. Having someone who really looks like a teenager as the main protagonist of a movie that isn't targeted as a teen drama might be jarring but it is true to the story and is an important part of the Dune story.
For anyone who hasn't read the book even without seeing this adaption I would still recommend reading the book. The story is very dense and there is various complicated subplots and a lot of innuendo and references in the dialogue. It's one of the books I've felt might be very difficult to really do as a movie and really be true to the book. I'm excited about this movie but part of that is to see what parts of the novel they include and what they don't.
theres six books? that right? for some reason i was thinking there were only 3 thought i read that somewhere awhile ago. think i'm gonna get the first one see how i like it.
The trailer was mediocre. The cinematography feels off, in the majority of scenes the background is out of focus while the foreground is extra sharp. The color palette is monotonous too, everything is either a bright tan or a depressing concrete grey. If the entire movie is like that I'm gonna check out early. Music was fine though. I'm a big fan of the books, but this trailer did nothing for me.
I wasn't bowled over by the trailer, which seemed a bit "flat." I hope it's not indicative of the actual film.
Thought the cast is going to be great. Really Like. The Lead looks intelligent and like a deep soul. Agree with the Director. Like. And if the movie works, this cast can grow with the film. The cast feels really strong to me including the lead. I am worried about the source material being dated. Giant worms and Spices. Not feeling that. I'm not familiar with the Dune stuff, but if it just a story where the kid becomes a king, that's been done.
What if it's about a kid who learns to split people open with his voice and then becomes king? Would that work?
The color palette in Dune is supposed to be very muted. Even the sky of Arrakis isn't blue but brownish grey because of the dust and lack of water moisture. Arrakeen the capital city and Atreides fortress is supposed to be raw concrete and industrial looking.
That whole thing about voice weapons in the 1982 movie isn't in the books and was one of the stupid things they added to make it more of an action movie.
I am well aware of that. But their interpretation of the material is not eyepleasing to me as a film-goer, despite it's attempt to be true to the source material, of which I have read all 6 books by FH. Nor does it explain the issue with the background in many scenes being extremely blurry. Cinematography and color palette feels very similar to Terminator Salvation, which is not a good sign.
