With the curtains drawn in a room at a palliative care facility in the province of Quebec (Canada), a man in his 50s and a friend watched Dune 2 (currently showing in Vietnamese theaters with the title Sand planet 2 ) on director Danis Villeneuve’s laptop screen, which the assistant director had flown in to bring in that day.
Secrecy is paramount. Those involved signed non-disclosure agreements and stored their phones to avoid leaks.
![The story behind a man who watched the blockbuster Dune 2 before dying - Photo 1. The story behind a man who watched the blockbuster Dune 2 before dying - Photo 1.](https://gamek.mediacdn.vn/133514250583805952/2024/3/6/photo-4-17097156922251384791785-1709718153844-17097181543851182053147.jpg)
French-American actor Timothée Chalamet plays Paul Atreides and American actor-singer Zendaya transforms into Chani in Dune: Part Two. Photo: Warner Bros.
Run with time
Josee Gagnon, founder of the charity that made the man’s dying wish come true, told The Washington Post that getting the film into this person’s hands was “a race against time”.
Ms. Gagnon, founder of the Canadian charity L’Avant (which specializes in helping people at the end of their lives realize their dreams), detailed the story in an interview on March 4. and in a recent Facebook post.
Gagnon said she was free to speak after Dune 2 premiered but declined to reveal the man’s identity to protect his privacy.
The race began in January, when L’Avant put out a call on Facebook for anyone who could reach director Villeneuve. “We want to create some magic for a person at the end of their life,” the charity’s post read. The post said time was of the essence because the person only had “a few weeks left.”
The post did not provide further details about the request, but shortly after, the charity posted that their request had reached director Villeneuve.
In a Facebook post over the weekend, Gagnon said that director Villeneuve and his wife, Tanya Lapointe (executive producer of Dune 2) was “extremely moved by the last wish of the man who loved movies”.
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Director DenisVilleneuve (left) and Spanish actor Javier Bardem play the Fremen tribal leader in Dune 2. Photo: Warner Bros.
Director Villeneuve and his wife initially wanted to take the man to Montreal (Quebec province) or Los Angeles (USA) so he could see the movie, Ms. Gagnon said in her post and in an interview with Radio-Canada . However, that was “impossible” because the man was “too weak”.
“Time is passing. The man is dying,” she wrote.
Then there was a breakthrough. On January 16, director Villeneuve’s assistant flew to Quebec with the director’s laptop and brought it to a palliative care center about 209 kilometers north of Quebec City, Ms. Gagnon said.
Passed away a few days later
The man did not speak English and had to watch movies with French subtitles, Ms. Gagnon told The Washington Post . He was “so weak that we thought he might die while watching the movie,” she wrote on Facebook.
The man ended up not being able to watch the entire 2 hours and 46 minutes of the movie. Mrs. Gagnon told The Washington Post that he was in pain and could only watch about half of it before having to stop. He died a few days later. He died “carrying the secret of the movie with him,” Ms. Gagnon said in her post.
Ms. Gagnon told Place publique’s program Radio-Canada that some people involved in the project felt it was a “failure” because the man did not have time to see the film’s ending. But she felt differently.
“I said: ‘You don’t understand, what this man went through was extraordinary. The end of a movie, when you’re about to die, it doesn’t mean anything… All this exists because of him.” According to her, missing the ending “doesn’t matter”.
![The story behind a man who watched the blockbuster Dune 2 before dying - Photo 3. The story behind a man who watched the blockbuster Dune 2 before dying - Photo 3.](https://gamek.mediacdn.vn/133514250583805952/2024/3/6/photo-2-17097156867982052825484-1709718155908-1709718156084500930803.jpg)
The Dune 2 film crew spent a month filming in the desert of Abu Dhabi (capital of the United Arab Emirates – UAE). Photo: Warner Bros.
The man had a “very difficult start in life” and watched people around him, including those who did not know him, work to fulfill his final wish. And that, Ms. Gagnon writes, “is worth all the gold in the world.”
Now, Ms. Gagnon has just one message. “People must continue to believe that everything is possible when done with all your heart,” she told The Washington Post .
After release, Dune 2 was highly appreciated by critics and viewers, earning about 182.5 million USD in 72 markets in its first week of release. The film’s budget is 190 million USD.
Ms. Gagnon said she had not yet seen it Dune 2 But it’s expected to hit theaters soon. “I will smile like a fool when I think about this story, thinking about him,” she said.
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Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet take on the main roles in Dune 2. Photo: Warner Bros.