When I watch a Villeneuve sci-fi it all feels very safe and respectable, like the folks involved don’t want to stray too far from the source material

I mean there was at least one rather substantial change in Arrival from the Chiang short story that made it pretty different from my perspective. Wasn’t aware there was source material for 2049 beyond the screenplay. Adapting Dune is another animal to be sure. But I’m not sure about the generalization to all of Villeneuve’s sci-fi.