The Oscars might have expanded the Best Picture category to 10 spots, but it still limits the nominees in other categories to just five—making for a more competitive race, but also resulting in inevitable snubs. Today’s Academy Awards announcement brought a lot of glory to box-office hits Wicked and Dune: Part Two, but neither Best Picture nominee garnered recognition for their directors. That did not sit well with Dune star Josh Brolin, who stepped up to defend Denis Villeneuve.
Dune fans will recall that while Villeneuve did get nominations in the Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay categories for 2022’s Dune (it lost both to CODA), he was also passed over for Best Director that year. His only Best Director nomination to date came with 2017’s Arrival (he lost to La La Land‘s Damien Chazelle).
Brolin, who played Gurney Halleck in the Dune films and also collaborated on a pair of elaborate art book tie-ins, took to his Instagram stories to air his reaction to Villeneuve’s snub. As Variety reports, he recorded himself speaking directly to the camera: “Just want to say congratulations to the Dune best picture nomination, to Greig Fraser for cinematography, for best visual effects, special effects, for Patrice [Vermett] for production design and for sound, I believe.”
He continued. “Apparently, I am going to quit acting because Denis Villeneuve didn’t get nominated. This is just how this thing works. It makes no sense to me. That’s okay. [Editor] Joe Walker, Denis Villeneuve, you deserve it. It’s an amazing film. I think it was even better than the first one. But the people who have gotten accolades sure deserve it. Happy to be a part of it. Congratulations everyone.”
That reference to “quitting acting” echoes back to an interview Brolin did with Variety in November 2024 where he made the initial declaration: “If he doesn’t get nominated this year, I’ll quit acting. It was a better movie than the first one. When I watched it, it felt like my brain was broken open. It’s masterful, and Denis is one of our master filmmakers. If the Academy Awards have any meaning whatsoever, they’ll recognize him.” (The trade also notes that Brolin posted a similar social media message when Villeneuve was left off the Best Director list for the first Dune.)
Presumably, there’ll be another chance to reward that hard work on Arrakis with Dune Messiah, said to be Villeneuve’s next project. If somehow Hollywood’s Oscar voters drop the ball again, head straight to Brolin’s Instagram to commiserate.
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