'Dune' director focuses on sci-fi classic's environmental message

VENICE LIDO, Italy – When the highly anticipated remake of Frank Herbert's influential '60s novel world premiered in September at the Venice Film Festival, it was "Dune -- Part 1." Now as Denis Villeneuve's lauded adaptation opens nationwide, it's simply "Dune" -- maybe because no one knows if there will be a concluding Part 2. "The biggest challenge," said Villeneuve ("Sicario," "Arrival") "is that the book is so rich and its strength is all in its details. I had to find equilibrium for someone who doesn't know the book at all and be as cinematic as possible. So that they will need to understand the movie without crushing them with exposition. So the ideas could follow the story." "Dune" is set far into a future where Oscar Isaac's Duke rules the kingdom of Atreides.