Denis Villeneuve's dreams of ‘Dune’ reach the big screen

Long before Denis Villeneuve decided to become a director, he was dreaming about making a movie of “Dune.”

It was the eyes that drew Denis Villeneuve to “Dune.”

Long before he’d decided to become a filmmaker, he was just a teenager browsing a bookstore when he spotted the cover of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel. But it wasn’t a hard sell for the biology obsessed 14-year-old who had already learned that science fiction was a way to dream on a grand scale.

Then he read it and was mesmerized by the poetic, atmospheric story of a young man’s heroic journey that dealt with religion, politics, destiny, heritage, the environment, colonialism and giant space worms.

“It became an obsession,” Villeneuve, 54, said.