Good friends are hard to find, especially in the Hollywood industry. However, Chloe Zhao and Denis Villeneuve have continued to support each other which is going strong even now. Belonging to the same field, the filmmakers also share great success in their individual careers. While the former gained global recognition with Nomadland, the latter is known for several acclaimed projects with 2021’s Dune being his mega success.
The duo has quite a strong bonding which the former mentioned when she talked about how he helped her in a way that affected her 2021’s Eternals.
Denis Villeneuve Helped Chloe Zhao in Her Eternals
The 2021 Eternals was quite an anticipated project with one reason involving filmmaker, Chloe Zhao who won an Oscar for her direction in Nomadland. While working on the MCU project, she was even helped by her close pal, Denis Villeneuve regarding the right direction for her film’s application on Imax.
She even asked him about getting early access to his (then-unreleased) Dune film before the release to get an idea of how she can present her MCU project on the screen.
“Even when I was working on Imax for Eternals, I asked him if it was OK for me to watch Dune. I knew he did incredible things in Imax, so I knew I could learn from him.”
The Prisoners director was “generous” enough to allow her to screen Timothee Chalemet-led movie in IMAX.
“He was so generous; he was like, “Yes.” He also gave me other references to look at.”
It was quite a great experience for the Oscar winner who not only got major help from his industry pal but he also gave her “references” that further helped her in the MCU project.
Chloe Zhao is Grateful to Denis Villeneuve for The Early Screening of Dune
The Chinese-born filmmaker further opened up about how she respects and loves her bonding with Villeneuve who were working on projects at the same time. Despite working on a similar schedule, their bond remained firm.
She shared,
“So I actually find a lot of strength in our films coming out at the same time and to have a colleague who I respect and love and to be able to go through this together and to hug each other at Venice [International Film Festival] when Dune came out. He even sent me a message last night, so it all feels very empowering.”
She further opened up about being a “big fan of Denis” who also share the bond of friendship. Even their projects were released within a short span, as Eternals ran in theatres in November. As for Zendaya starring project, it was internationally released in September.
Eternals is available on Netflix meanwhile Dune is streaming on HBO Max.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
