Note, this idea is NOT a film of the fourth (and what should have been final) book in the Dune series. No, “Denis Villeneuve” would be a character in a film called “Denis Villeneuve’s God-Emperor of Dune”.
The star, of course, would be Jason Momoa. He’d play two characters:
- The notable American actor Jason Momoa and
- An artificially intelligent CGI version of Jason Momoa who has been created to play multiple Duncan Idahos in a film version of “God-Emperor of Dune” directed by Denis Villeneuve.
The CGI version of Jason Momoa (actually played by a non-CGI Jason Momoa) is an endlessly replicated version of Jason Momoa, repeatedly summoned into being by the (fictional) Denis Villeneuve. I don’t know who will play Denis Villeneuve, probably Denis Villeneuve but just to confuse people he could be played by Christopher Nolan. Leto II the titular God Emperor of Dune will be played by either Brian Herbert of Kevin J. Anderson as being who is keep things alive that should have died decades ago.
Jason Momoa playing himself will be a character who regrets signing away the generative AI rights to the film company and who is now attempting to infiltrate the production to switch off the CGI Jason Momoa. The CGI Jason Momoa (played by the non-CGI Jason Momoa) is rapidly increasing in self-awareness and seeing their own circumstance as mirroring that of the ghola Duncan Idahos.
The film builds to a confusing climax in which it is revealed that the movie itself was part of Denis Villeneuve’s (played by Christopher Nolan) plan to free humanity from predictable film sequels. At the end Christopher Nolan (played by Denis Villeneuve) explodes into millions of tiny sandworms that then eat Hollywood (played by Toronto).
Kevin Bacon makes a cameo at the end.
Camestros Felapton 
21 responses to “My film idea “Denis Villeneuve’s God-Emperor of Dune””
I have the original three books here in my library, but due to the prominence of the movies in current SF/F fandom (and in an unrelated podcast I’m addicted to), I’m tempted to pick up God-Emperor. I read it when it first came out and I was maybe 20 years old. It was confusing and I didn’t like it. Is it as bad as I vaguely remember?
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I liked it but it has a bunch of homophobia in it . The idea of it, essentially a god-like being working to liberate humanity by being a dictator that can end super-powered dictatorships in the future, has the same epic scale of ideas as the first book without being a rehash. It is nuts though.
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I would totally watch this movie.
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I’m watching it in my head even as I’m typing. Nearly at the end. Kevin Bacon is about to say “oh no, not again!”
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I would watch it once. Late at night with friends and substances. It would make more sense that way.
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I haven’t read a Dune book since the 80’s. I bought but never could work up the energy for Chapterhouse Dune.
But I dunno. This sounds familiar.
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Just as Tom Cruise’s repeated deaths in The Edge of Tomorrow were the best thing about that movie, in the minds of some, so too the idea of infinite instances of Jason Momoa is very compelling for me.
Even so, I had the chance to see Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and passed. Not because of anything JM did, but because the shunning of Amber Heard by the powers-that-be was not well done.
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I watched Aquaman 2 on a plane. It was very bad.
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Glad I picked The Marvels instead, well. 🙂
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I got a long weekend’s free HBO so I could have watched Aquaman 2 on my big screen TV, and I didn’t even bother to record it.
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Aquaman 1 was already torture enough.
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Please explain further how these “millions of tiny sandworms …. then eat Hollywood (played by Toronto)”
Signed, Rather Worried in West End Toronto
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CGI sandworms
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As someone who’s never lived in North America, Cam is incorrect. Hollywood is always played by Vancouver. Toronto plays New York.
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Darn. I nearly wrote Vancouver and then corrected myself.
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But but but using Toronto just adds to the meta-commentary of the artificiality of the CGI worlds.
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Which is the background for the hilarious bit in ST:SNW in which Kirk goes back to 21th century Toronto and identifies it as NYC before being corrected.
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Thank goodness for CGI. Real sandworms would get indigestion after Oakville, but by that time it would be too late for High Park and the Toronto Islands.
Lurkertype makes a good point, though. Vancouver’s been known as Hollywood North since forever! I didn’t stumble on any film shoots this trip, but there’s usually several of them going on at any given time.
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BTW, your description of the Leto II casting is great.
Although I did at first think of Jared Leto, who would fit right in with sci-fi WTF madness. Maybe he could play Denis?
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Jared Leto can play Brian Herbet as Brian Herbet will be busy playing Leto
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I was never able to get into any of the Dune books (to be fair I never tried more than the first one, but I’m not sure starting with the second or third would have helped), but this is pretty much how I’ve always imagined the plot in my head.
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