Denis Villeneuve, the visionary director behind Dune, revealed his decision to ban cell phones on his sets.
While conversing with the Los Angeles Times published Thursday, December 26, the filmmaker described the reason why the cast and crew on his projects are not encouraged to bring certain devices on set.
“Cinema is an act of presence,” the Academy Award-nominated director said.
He added, “When a painter paints, he has to be absolutely focused on the color he’s putting on the canvas.”
“It’s the same with the dancer when he does a gesture. With a filmmaker, you have to do that with a crew, and everybody has to focus and be entirely in the present, listening to each other, being in relationship with each other,” he told the outlet.
Villeneuve added, “So cellphones are banned on my set too, since day one. It’s forbidden. When you say cut, you don’t want someone going to his phone to look at his Facebook account.”
To note, in October 2021, Villeneuve's Dune movie, which adapted Frank Hubert's book, debuted, starring Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, Zendaya as Chan, and Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto Atreides.
In March 2024, the second instalment was released starring A-listers Anya Taylor-Joy (Paul's unborn sister Alia Atreides), Florence Pugh (Princess Irulan), and Austin Butler (Feyd-Rautha).
