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 stretches of his life. Speaking ahead of the release of Ridley Scott’s “The Dog Stars,” the actor recalled living among the Liwa dunes south of the city during production. “I had my family with me, and that was like one of the most glorious six weeks of my life,” he said. “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, a role he reprises in the coming third instalment. Abu Dhabi’s part in the franchise has grown with each film. The first Dune spent five days filming in the emirate, and Part Two returned for 27 days, using Liwa as its principal stand-in for the desert planet Arrakis.
Dune: Part Three marked the franchise’s largest UAE shoot yet, with 31 days of filming across Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. More than 600 UAE-based crew members, performers, contractors and interns took part in the production, underlining how central the emirate has become to one of Hollywood’s biggest series.
Brolin’s affection for the landscape is shared by Jason Momoa, who returns as Duncan Idaho in Part Three. After wrapping in the UAE, Momoa called the franchise among the most fulfilling experiences of his career. “You get to be in the desert, and it’s pretty special out there,” he said. “We were getting up very early and very late. You get to see stuff most people don’t.” During breaks, he photographed the desert at dawn and dusk. “I got some good shots. My phone is pretty full.”
Momoa said the rhythm of the desert had stayed with him. “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 close Villeneuve’s trilogy and is scheduled to open in UAE cinemas on December 17. “The Dog Stars” releases in UAE cinemas on August 27.
