Steven Spielberg Hails Denis Villeneuve as a “World Builder” After Viewing ‘Dune: Part Two’

The recently released Dune: Part Two has received a ringing endorsement from none other than Steven Spielberg. In a conversation with director Denis Villeneuve on The Director’s Cut Podcast, the legendary filmmaker showered praise on his Canadian counterpart, anointing him as one of cinema’s great “builders of worlds.”

“Let me start by saying there are filmmakers who are the builders of worlds. It’s not a long list…and I deeply, fervently believe that you are one of its newest members,” Spielberg told Villeneuve.

The acclaimed director of classics like Jaws, Schindler’s List, and Saving Private Ryan placed Villeneuve in esteemed company alongside visionary filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick, Guillermo del Toro, and Christopher Nolan for his breathtaking work on the Dune franchise.

Steven Spielberg was particularly blown away by one standout sequence from 2021’s Dune: Part One – the stunning setpiece of Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides riding a gargantuan sandworm across the deserts of Arrakis.

“That scene surfing the sandworms is one of the greatest things I have ever seen. Ever!” Spielberg gushed. “But you made the desert look like a liquid.”

The Jurassic Park creator also observed that,

“This is a desert-loving story, but for such a desert-loving film there is such a yearning for water in this movie. For all the sand you have in this film, it’s really about water.”

Based on his initial reactions, Steven Spielberg seems to regard Dune: Part Two as not just a seamless continuation of Part One’s spectacle, but a potential new benchmark in world-building on an epic scale.

“You have made one of the most brilliant science fiction films I have ever seen,” Spielberg proclaimed. “Dune: Part Two is truly a visual epic and it’s also filled with deeply, deeply drawn characters.”