Daily “Dune”: Hans Zimmer’s Pink Floyd Cover Was All Denis Villeneuve’s Idea

We’re still not fully over Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures first official trailer for Denis Villeneuve‘s upcoming film adaptation of Frank Herbert‘s seminal work of science fiction, “Dune.” After months of anxiously awaiting the first moving pictures of Arrakis, the Atreides and Harkonnen families, we were rewarded with an incredible trailer, which featured a taste of The Spice.

And, a new take on a classic Pink Floyd track from composer Hans Zimmer– Dark Side of the Moon’s “Eclipse.” You’ll hear the familiar lyrics come in towards the middle of the trailer, and apparently the story of how this came to be is an epic adventure all on its own.

If you missed the trailer, check it out:

Apparently the song was all Villeneuve’s idea, and as the story was recounted to Variety, it included a choir of some 32 voices, recording in small waves following social distancing protocols. Because you know, pandemic and all that.

Meeting four-at-a-time over eight sessions, long-time Zimmer choral contractor Edie Lehmann Boddicker directed the Los Angeles based singers for the piece, with Zimmer supervising via Facetime during the sessions.

Lehmann Boddicker said of the experience:

“He [Zimmer] wanted to pay homage to the original, very back-phrased sound, a little spaced-out, so the vocals would not sound urgent. There’s a kind of joy happening in the track, a lot of hopefulness. It’s not despondent, just very peaceful and sounding not of this planet.

We followed all the [COVID-19] protocols. Everybody wore masks except when they were in their separate cubicles, divided by glass, all with their own mic’s, and everything was wiped down between sessions.”

Obviously, we only got a few lines from the song in the trailer, but the assembled singers DID record the entire tune. So, maybe we’ll get the full thing when the film’s soundtrack releases?

Apparently following the trailer’s release, sales of the original Pink Floyd song
“Eclipse” increased by 1,750%.

We’re still expecting WB to push the release of “Dune” from December 18th 2020 into 2021 (especially after moving “Wonder Woman 1984” into December). We’re hoping for March.

We’ll of course let you know about any “Dune” news we hear.

Shai Hulud, fellow Fremen.