Dune: Part Two tabarnak Denis Villeneuve Josh Brolin

Denis Villeneuve apologizes for failing to slip a ‘tabarnak’ into Dune: Part Two

“I asked Josh Brolin to use the word at one point and it didn’t work out. It doesn’t live well in the mouth of an American.”

In an interview on the red carpet in Montreal last week, ahead of the premiere of Dune: Part Two, director Denis Villeneuve revealed that he tried to slip a “tabarnak” into the film’s script. Given the diversity of languages, dialects and vocabulary in the sci-fi epic, the Quebec swear word wouldn’t have seemed out of place, but the actor tasked with saying “tabarnak” wasn’t able to deliver it in true Queb fashion.

“I was convinced that if I was able to put the word ‘tabarnak’ in one of the movies, it would please the people from Montreal but I asked Josh Brolin to use the word at one point and it didn’t work out. It doesn’t live well in the mouth of an American. I’m sorry, I failed, I failed.”

Denis Villeneuve apologizes for failing to slip a ‘tabarnak’ into Dune: Part Two

Read our interview with Denis Villeneuve here.


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