Denis Villeneuve's next movie, following the critically acclaimed Dune and the much-anticipated Dune 2, will be another adaptation perfect for the director’s talents. Villeneuve's 2021 Dune adaptation set the tone for what was to come, as he has now signed on to direct a movie based on Arthur C Clarke’s iconic Rendezvous with Rama, an interstellar hard sci-fi novel set in 2130. Plans to adapt the 1973 book have been stuck in development hell since the early 2000s, with Morgan Freeman originally attached to produce a film. Now it has finally found a steady hand with Denis Villeneuve, an accomplished director with multiple sci-fi epics under his belt.
Rendezvous with Rama documents, in great detail, mankind’s first contact with an alien spaceship. Over 30 miles in length, the titular craft is discovered passing through our solar system, prompting a nearby team of scientists to investigate the massive vessel before it continues its interstellar journey. What follows is an enigmatic voyage inside the cylindrical ship, with the human protagonists discovering unknowable alien structures while trying to better understand the mysteries of Rama and where it came from. If adapted well, Rendezvous with Rama could prove to be one of the greatest sci-fi movies set in space. An example of hard science fiction, the book foregoes a lot of character development for realistic depictions of space travel and clinical explanations of the mysteries of Rama.
It's heady stuff, and in the hands of a less accomplished director, Rendezvous with Rama could prove unmanageable. However, Frank Herbert’s Dune is infamously dense and its lore almost impenetrable to the uninitiated. Villeneuve managed not only to adapt the sweeping histories and mesmeric imagery of Dune into a good movie but to do so faithfully. That first film was a hit, and its sequel (Villeneuve sensibly split the book into two parts), Dune: Part Two, is now eagerly awaited by fans old and new. Previously, the director proved the naysayers wrong and built upon the iconic universe of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner in his sequel Blade Runner 2049, and he also adapted a novella about linguistics and physics — Ted Chiang's "Story of Your Life" — into the critically acclaimed movie Arrival. Add to this Villeneuve's visual style that lends itself to sparse, mysterious sci-fi, and it could be argued that he isn’t just perfect for a Rendezvous with Rama adaptation, but he’s the only one who could do it.
Bringing the truly alien machinery, cityscapes, and people from Herbert's Dune to life through costume design and CGI on the big screen was a difficult task, but Villeneuve succeeded in creating a beautiful and believable world. It will take a true auteur with a crystal-clear vision to bring the mysterious Rama to life. Villeneuve is not only able to build believable worlds, but he does so with a style that lends itself to existential mysteries. Ignoring the subsequent three novels after Rendezvous with Rama, the first installment lives and dies on its central question: who are the Ramans? The book never really makes this clear, and Villeneuve is well suited to creating an air of unease and the unknowable. He has made a career out of showing, not telling, creating suspense and intrigue, often without dialogue. This is doubly important because a good portion of the book is told through the experiences of a single character, trapped on the other side of the enormous Rama.
Villeneuve still has to complete his Dune saga, and then he is set to direct a miniseries based on Joe Nesbo’s The Son as well as a drama film about Cleopatra. It’s fair to say he has a pretty full slate and it’s not yet known when Rendezvous with Rama will be brought to the big screen. Putting this aside, Villeneuve captured the Dune mythos in an accessible and entertaining way while still doing justice to the source material. He presented the beauty and eeriness of a future, deep in the curious corners of the universe, with visual flair. Rendezvous with Rama needs the same treatment, and there is no one better to do that than Denis Villeneuve.
