Josh Brolin Threatens to ‘Quit Acting’ If ‘Dune 2’ Director Doesn’t Win Oscar Nomination

On By Littum

Josh Brolin has a bone to pick with the Academy.

The actor, 56, said the Academy Awards made a mistake when they failed to nominate his “Dune” director Denis Villeneuve for the 2021 sci-fi film. This year, Villeneuve will again be considered for the award for “Dune: Part Two.”

The sequel received better reviews than the original film, with Brolin reprising his role as Gurney Halleck, a mentor to Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides.

Josh Brolin in “Dune: Part Two.” ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

“If he doesn’t get nominated this year, I’ll stop acting,” Brolin said Black in an interview published Thursday. “It was a better film than the first. When I saw it, it felt like my brain had been ripped open. It’s masterful, and Denis is one of our master filmmakers. If the Oscars have any meaning, they recognize him.”

Villeneuve, 57, stands to be recognized at IndieWire Honors 2024 and will receive director’s honors at the Gotham Awards. But the Oscar nominations will not be revealed until early 2025.

“Dune: Part One” earned the second-highest number of nominations at the 94th Academy Awards with 10 nods, but best director was not in the mix.

Director Denis Villeneuve (left) and production designer Patrice Vermette. ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

Brolin said in one Twitter video at the time, the director, who was not nominated, was “incredulous, almost numbingly, unsettling.”

“It’s just one of those things where you go, ‘Huh?’ What?!’ ” continued the actor. “I don’t know how you get 10 nominations and then the guy who did the impossible with that book doesn’t get nominated. It makes you realize that it’s all great, and then it’s all f–king totally stupid. So congratulations on the amazing achievements that these incredibly talented people have been recognized for, because it’s all really, really stupid.”

In March, Brolin gushed about the film on social media.

A scene from the 2024 sci-fi film “Dune: Part Two”. ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
Brolin (left) and Villeneuve at the premiere of “Dune: Part Two” in February in Abu Dhabi. Getty Images for Warner Bros. Pictures

“‘Dune 2’ is a train that has been utilized for a need that we all need to be told good stories about.” Stories about perception, coming to terms with ourselves, the importance of ecology and what it means to fall in love young and have to navigate a life despite it. ‘Dune’ touches like the big movies and books did to us as kids,” he further explained Instagram.

“We have allowed fear and contraction to chill us, so when something comes around to remind us of our bravery, our challenges, our soft hearts and our abilities to prevail while always keeping the bigger picture in mind, we toast for the emotional. Thanks for reminding us through your humanitarian perspective. Entertainment that feeds the imagination 2′ struck at the center of a need, and humanity wins again.”

Brolin in “Dune: Part Two.” ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya in “Dune: Part Two.” ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

But regardless of “Dune’s” magic, Villeneuve said he doesn’t create to win awards.

“As a filmmaker, you’re a lone wolf. When your work is appreciated by the local community, it feels like you’re part of a family. That’s what really matters to me,” he shared Black earlier this month. “Making films means being away from your family for months. Every time I finish a film, I sit down and ask myself if the flame is still there, because I never want to make a film without that fire inside me .”

Another snub Villeneuve has remembered all these years? Amy Adams hasn’t received an Oscar nomination for her role in his 2016 sci-fi film “Arrival” — despite getting a best director nod herself.

Villeneuve called the result a “big disappointment.”