Filmmaker Steven Spielberg recently weighed in on some of his favorite films of the past few years. Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films and Zach Cregger’s Weapons topped his list. Even citing Cregger’s film as a reason for delaying his foray into horror.
“I haven’t directed a horror film yet, and I’ve always wanted to, and someday I may. But there have been some great horror films out already that satisfy that itch,” Spielberg tells Empire. “When I see a great horror film like Weapons, I don’t have an itch I need to scratch. I see Weapons, and it doesn’t make me want to make a horror film that’s as scary or scarier than Weapons. It satisfies me so completely, it actually arrests my desire to someday make a really, really scary movie.”
Luckily, Cregger is already signed on to write the script for a Weapons prequel centering Aunt Gladys.
Dune
Prior to that he lavished praise on Villeneuve’s first 2 Dune films. “Recently, I’ve loved the Dune movies. They are among my favourite science-fiction movies, not just recently, but of all time. Especially the second film,” says Spielberg. “I think [Part Two] is the best movie Denis has ever made. I cannot wait to see the third one. I’m sure he’ll show it to me early. I’m such a fan of his.”
Before throwing Guillermo del Toro’s latest film into the mix too. “I love the [Dune] books, and I just think his tribute to the books is like Guillermo [del Toro]’s tribute to Mary Shelley with Frankenstein: he honoured Mary Shelley as I think Denis honoured Frank Herbert.”
No small praise considering the countless adaptations of Frankenstein that exist across all media. Just standing out is hard enough.
Spielberg’s latest film will be the alien conspiracy thriller Disclosure Day, written by David Koepp. It stars Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, and Eve Hewson and hits theaters on June 12th.
