The blockbuster Dune: Part Two is nearly three hours long, but it could have been even longer. And director Denis Villeneuve says that any cut scenes will not be seen by the public.
“I’m a strong believer that when it’s not in the movie, it’s dead,” the director told Collider when asked if he will release deleted scenes from the film for its upcoming Blu-ray release. “Sometimes I remove shots and I say, ‘I cannot believe I’m cutting this out. I feel like a samurai opening my gut. It’s painful, so I cannot go back after that and create a Frankenstein and try to reanimate things that I killed. It’s too painful. When it’s dead, it’s dead, and it’s dead for a reason. But yes, it is a painful project, but it is my job. The movie prevails. I’m very severe in the editing room. I’m not thinking about my ego, I’m thinking about the movie …. I kill darlings, and it’s painful for me.”
“I’ve made movies in my life that were 75 minutes, and this one is two hours, 45 [minutes], I think, something like that,” Villeneuve added. “It’s not the runtime, it’s about the storytelling, and I felt that I wanted to create a momentum. I wanted an energy in the movie that I was looking for that excited me, and I thought that was the perfect runtime … You can be bored by a five-minute movie.”
Villeneuve joins a list of directors who generally decline to release deleted scenes — such as Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese.
At least one actor who was entirely cut from the film: Tim Blake Nelson (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs) in an undisclosed role. Nelson told Movieweb, “I don’t think I’m at liberty to say what the scene was. I’d leave that to Denis if he wants to talk about it. I had a great time over there shooting it. And then he had to cut it because he thought the movie was too long. And I am heartbroken over that, but there’s no hard feelings. I loved it, and I can’t…
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