Denis Villeneuve OC CQ RCA OAL (/vɪlˈnuːv/; French: [dəni vilnœv]; born October 3, 1967) is a Canadian filmmaker.

[3] After becoming established as a filmmaker, Villeneuve received an honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Concordia University in Montreal on June 6, 2024.

[16] Following Incendies and Prisoners, Villeneuve won Best Director for his sixth film, the psychological thriller Enemy (2014), at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards.

[17]Later that year, Villeneuve directed the crime thriller film Sicario, scripted by Taylor Sheridan,[18] and starring Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Daniel Kaluuya, and Josh Brolin.

[24] Arrival grossed $203 million worldwide and received critical acclaim, specifically for Adams's performance, Villeneuve's direction, and the film's exploration of communicating with extraterrestrial intelligence.

[29] Scott served as the film's executive producer on behalf of Warner Bros.[30][31] It was released to critical acclaim on 6 October 2017, but underperformed at the box office.

[32] David Ehrlich of IndieWire wrote, "Few filmmakers of the 21st century have risen to prominence and prestige with the forcefulness of Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve, whose seemingly unstoppable career has been bolstered by a steady balance of critical respect and commercial success.

[34][35] Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Stellan Skarsgård, Jason Momoa, and Zendaya starred in the film.

[48] Villeneuve is also attached to direct a historical drama about Cleopatra for Sony Pictures (based on the biography by Stacy Schiff) and an adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction novel Rendezvous with Rama for Alcon Entertainment.

[48][49][50] He has also confirmed a secret project is in the works, on which he said In April 2024, it was reported that Villeneuve was in talks to potentially reunite with Legendary Pictures on a film adaptation of the Annie Jacobsen non-fiction book Nuclear War: A Scenario as a director or producer.

[53] Starting with Polytechnique, Villeneuve became known for a visual style based on long takes, precise mise-en-scène, steady camerawork, periods of wordless silence to emphasize moody atmosphere, and shallow focus, high-contrast cinematography.

Amongst a core theme of Villeneuve's films are characters who struggle with their identities in worlds of isolation, such as the case with Sicario (Kate Macer), Enemy (Adam Bell), Arrival (Louise Banks), Blade Runner 2049 (Officer K), and the Dune movies (Paul Atreides).

Villeneuve has cited Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, the Coen brothers, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ridley Scott, Sam Mendes, Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Ingmar Bergman, Yorgos Lanthimos, and Christopher Nolan as his main cinematic influences.