Actress Charlotte Rampling fears for the future of cinema

Actress Charlotte Rampling said she fears for the future of cinema due to the closing of theatres and lack of new releases during the pandemic.

The Oscar-nominated star, 74, will next appear on the big screen in director Denis Villeneuve’s highly awaited sci-fi remake Dune.

The film’s release was delayed from December this year to October 2021, with Hollywood studios pushing may of their movies back in an attempt to protect them from box office failure amid the uncertainty caused by coronavirus lockdowns.

British actress Rampling, who lives in France, said the situation has her fearing for cinema.

She told the Radio Times: “I get that distributors feel they can’t justify it economically, but the thing is that cinemas and theatres are very safe.

“I’ve been several times recently and everyone wore masks and was sitting separately. Paris is a city of cinephiles and they still go a lot, so it’s disappointing to see films pulled.”

The latest James Bond outing No Time To Die, Jurassic World: Dominion and murder mystery remake Death On The Nile are among the major releases to be delayed.

Rampling will play Gaius Helen Mohiam in Dune, alongside an ensemble cast including Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin and Stellan Skarsgard.

The sci-fi film is partly set on the dangerous desert planet Arrakis.

Rampling said: “Denis Villeneuve is a delightful man, very helpful, very quiet and thoughtful. It’s lovely that he’s running such huge juggernauts. I play a prophetess and my scenes were all in the studio, so I never got to go to the desert, which I was gutted about.”

Read the full interview with Rampling in the Radio Times.