Steven Spielberg Shares His Love For Dune, Frankenstein, and Weapons

It’s no secret that Steven Spielberg has an affinity for the movies of the Dune trilogy, which “are among my favorite science-fiction movies, not just recently, but of all time. Especially the second film,” he tells Empire in a fresh interview published April 5.

The auteur filmmaker also shared his enthusiasm at the prospect of discovering the third installment, due on December 18, starring returning cast members like Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet alongside fresh additions including Robert Pattinson. “I think [Part Two] is the best movie Denis has ever made. I cannot wait to see the third one. I’m sure he’ll show it to me early. I’m such a fan of his,” Spielberg added.

That would be Denis Villeneuve, whose Dune films are based on the bestsellers by Frank Herbert. “I love the [Dune] books, and I just think his tribute to the books is like Guillermo [del Toro]’s tribute to Mary Shelley with Frankenstein: he honoured Mary Shelley as I think Denis honoured Frank Herbert,” said Spielberg.

Not for the first time, the director of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial expressed his admiration for Villeneuve’s work. During a question-and-answer session between himself and the Dune director, transcribed in a March 2024 podcast episode entitled The Director’s Cut – A DGA Podcast, he had already declared that the second part of Dune was “one of the most brilliant science-fiction films I’ve ever seen.”

Spielberg continued as part of that conversation: “Let me start by saying there are filmmakers who are the builders of worlds,” he told Villeneuve at the time. “It’s not a long list and we know who a lot of them are. Starting with [Georges] Méliès and Disney and Kubrick, George Lucas. Ray Harryhausen I include in that list. Fellini built his own worlds. Tim Burton. Obviously Wes Anderson, Peter Jackson, James Cameron, Christopher Nolan, Ridley Scott, Guillermo del Toro. The list goes on but it’s not that long of a list, and I deeply, fervently believe that you are one of its newest members…And that scene surfing the sandworms is one of the greatest things I have ever seen. Ever!”

Spielberg has often flirted with the horror genre, as with Jaws (1975), but has never made an outright scary movie. “I haven’t directed a horror film yet, and I’ve always wanted to, and someday I may. But there have been some great horror films out already that satisfy that itch,” he told Empire. One such example is Zach Cregger’s latest Oscar-winning scarefest. “When I see a great horror film like Weapons, I don’t have an itch I need to scratch. I see Weapons, and it doesn’t make me want to make a horror film that’s as scary or scarier than Weapons,” Spielberg continued. “It satisfies me so completely, it actually arrests my desire to someday make a really, really scary movie.”