The Oscar-winning composer explains in new interview why he was delighted upon learning that the Canadian director was planning to tackle Frank Herbert's 1965 sci-fi classic.
- Nov 26, 2021
AceShowbiz - Composer Hans Zimmer jumped at the chance to score Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi epic "Dune", because it was one of his favorite books when he was young.
The Oscar-winning maestro had already scored the Canadian director's 2017 film "Blade Runner 2049", and was delighted when he learned the filmmaker was planning to tackle Frank Herbert's 1965 classic "Dune".
"He asked if I had ever heard of a book called 'Dune', and I sort of flipped out and got all carried away, and I think I scared him a bit," Zimmer tells Billboard.
Both had read the novel when they were teenagers and ended up "finishing each other sentences" when it came time to work on the project.
"Rather than approaching it with the wisdom and maturity that come with age, none of that happened," Hans recalls. "The book took us back in time. The score is very much written with the recklessness and fearlessness that you have as a teenager."
The haunting score, which features discordant sounds created with salvaged metal, was recorded remotely with Zimmer's musical collaborators during the pandemic, and he admits he had a ball creating the unique "color palette" for the film.
"(My friend) would build these incredible sculptures in his house, and his house itself is a resonating chamber, so the whole house becomes the instrument," he laughs. "Tell me honestly, who doesn't want to go play with that?"
He's already eagerly plotting out the music for a second "Dune" film, which was greenlit by Warner Bros. executives in October 2021.
"I have such an idea," he says with glee. "I haven't run it by Denis yet, but of course it's one of those impossible ideas that will create an enormous amount of work (with) no sleep and no weekends off. I can't wait."
