Josh Brolin has described the six weeks he spent with his family in the Abu Dhabi desert while filming the Dune franchise as one of the most memorable periods of his life.
Speaking to The National ahead of the release of Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars, Brolin recalled living among the Liwa dunes south of the city during the production.
“I had my family with me, and that was like one of the most glorious six weeks of my life,” Brolin says. “It’s amazing. Surrounded by nothing but dunes.”
In Denis Villeneuve’s science-fiction series, Brolin plays Gurney Halleck, the warrior and mentor to Timothee Chalamet’s Paul Atreides. He is also set to appear in the coming third instalment.
Abu Dhabi’s role in the franchise has grown with each film. The first Dune spent five days filming in the emirate, while Part Two returned for 27 days and used Liwa as its principal stand-in for the desert planet Arrakis.
Dune: Part Three marked the franchise’s largest UAE shoot, with 31 days of filming in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. More than 600 UAE-based crew members, performers, contractors and interns were involved in the production.
Brolin’s affection for the landscape is shared by Jason Momoa, who reprises his role as Duncan Idaho in Part Three. After wrapping the latest film in the UAE, Momoa told The National that the franchise ranked among the most fulfilling experiences of his career.
“You get to be in the desert, and it’s pretty special out there,” he said. “It’s a big honour. We were getting up very early and very late. You get to see stuff most people don’t. That’s one of the fun things about being in a movie like this. You get to go do some wild stuff in places you probably wouldn’t otherwise.”
During breaks in filming, Momoa photographed the desert at dawn and dusk. “I got some good shots – my phone is pretty full,” he said.
Momoa says the pace of the desert has remained with him, too. “This place is Disneyland for big kids – but then you go out into the dunes and everything slows down.”
Dune: Part Three, based on Frank Herbert’s 1969 novel Dune Messiah, will conclude Villeneuve’s trilogy and is scheduled to open in UAE cinemas on December 17.
The Dog Stars releases in UAE cinemas on August 27
