HN Entertainment
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Register
  • Videos
    The Mandalorian: Season 1 Storyline Recap

    The Mandalorian: Season 1 Storyline Recap

    Lovecraft Country: The Kumiho Spirit EXPLAINED

    Lovecraft Country: The Kumiho Spirit EXPLAINED

    The Mandalorian: The New Republic Era EXPLAINED

    The Mandalorian: The New Republic Era EXPLAINED

    Lovecraft Country: Shoggoth Monsters EXPLAINED

    Lovecraft Country: Shoggoth Monsters EXPLAINED

  • Features
    • All
    • Editorials
    • Interviews
    • Lists
    • Retrospectives
    Revisiting The Venom Flick

    Revisiting The Venom Flick

    Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man: Revisiting The First Trilogy

    Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man: Revisiting The First Trilogy

    How Marvel Studios is Building The Ultimates Instead of New Avengers

    How Marvel Studios is Building The Ultimates Instead of New Avengers

    How Marvel Studios is Building a NOVA Movie

    How Marvel Studios is Building a NOVA Movie

    Top Star Wars Ideas For Disney+ After ‘The Clone Wars’

    Top Star Wars Ideas For Disney+ After ‘The Clone Wars’

    Five Marvel Characters That Deserve A Disney+ Series

    Five Marvel Characters That Deserve A Disney+ Series

    How Secret Invasion May Happen in the MCU

    How Secret Invasion May Happen in the MCU

    Santa Muerte – Everything You Need To Know | Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels

    Santa Muerte – Everything You Need To Know | Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels

    How Ironheart Can Be Introduced To The MCU

    How Ironheart Can Be Introduced To The MCU

    How the MCU Can Introduce Sentry

    How the MCU Can Introduce Sentry

  • Reviews
    • All
    • Movie Reviews
    • TV Reviews
    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 4 Review & Recap – Genre

    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 4 Review & Recap – Genre

    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 4 Review & Recap – Mother of Exiles

    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 4 Review & Recap – Mother of Exiles

    ‘The Invisible Man’ Review – Universal Monsters Done Justice

    ‘The Invisible Man’ Review – Universal Monsters Done Justice

    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 3 Review – The Absence of Field

    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 3 Review – The Absence of Field

    ‘The Gentlemen’ Review – Guy Ritchie’s Return To The British Crime Genre After A 12-Year Hiatus Is A Little Rusty

    ‘The Gentlemen’ Review – Guy Ritchie’s Return To The British Crime Genre After A 12-Year Hiatus Is A Little Rusty

    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 2 Review – The Winter Line

    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 2 Review – The Winter Line

    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 1 Review – Parce Domine

    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 1 Review – Parce Domine

    Onward Review – Pixar Hits Another Home Run With Their Latest Magical Adventure

    Onward Review – Pixar Hits Another Home Run With Their Latest Magical Adventure

  • More
    • About HNE
    • Advertise With Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Community Policy
    • Terms of Use
  • Register
  • Log In
NEWSLETTERS
PODCASTS
  • Videos
    The Mandalorian: Season 1 Storyline Recap

    The Mandalorian: Season 1 Storyline Recap

    Lovecraft Country: The Kumiho Spirit EXPLAINED

    Lovecraft Country: The Kumiho Spirit EXPLAINED

    The Mandalorian: The New Republic Era EXPLAINED

    The Mandalorian: The New Republic Era EXPLAINED

    Lovecraft Country: Shoggoth Monsters EXPLAINED

    Lovecraft Country: Shoggoth Monsters EXPLAINED

  • Features
    • All
    • Editorials
    • Interviews
    • Lists
    • Retrospectives
    Revisiting The Venom Flick

    Revisiting The Venom Flick

    Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man: Revisiting The First Trilogy

    Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man: Revisiting The First Trilogy

    How Marvel Studios is Building The Ultimates Instead of New Avengers

    How Marvel Studios is Building The Ultimates Instead of New Avengers

    How Marvel Studios is Building a NOVA Movie

    How Marvel Studios is Building a NOVA Movie

    Top Star Wars Ideas For Disney+ After ‘The Clone Wars’

    Top Star Wars Ideas For Disney+ After ‘The Clone Wars’

    Five Marvel Characters That Deserve A Disney+ Series

    Five Marvel Characters That Deserve A Disney+ Series

    How Secret Invasion May Happen in the MCU

    How Secret Invasion May Happen in the MCU

    Santa Muerte – Everything You Need To Know | Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels

    Santa Muerte – Everything You Need To Know | Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels

    How Ironheart Can Be Introduced To The MCU

    How Ironheart Can Be Introduced To The MCU

    How the MCU Can Introduce Sentry

    How the MCU Can Introduce Sentry

  • Reviews
    • All
    • Movie Reviews
    • TV Reviews
    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 4 Review & Recap – Genre

    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 4 Review & Recap – Genre

    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 4 Review & Recap – Mother of Exiles

    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 4 Review & Recap – Mother of Exiles

    ‘The Invisible Man’ Review – Universal Monsters Done Justice

    ‘The Invisible Man’ Review – Universal Monsters Done Justice

    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 3 Review – The Absence of Field

    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 3 Review – The Absence of Field

    ‘The Gentlemen’ Review – Guy Ritchie’s Return To The British Crime Genre After A 12-Year Hiatus Is A Little Rusty

    ‘The Gentlemen’ Review – Guy Ritchie’s Return To The British Crime Genre After A 12-Year Hiatus Is A Little Rusty

    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 2 Review – The Winter Line

    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 2 Review – The Winter Line

    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 1 Review – Parce Domine

    ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 1 Review – Parce Domine

    Onward Review – Pixar Hits Another Home Run With Their Latest Magical Adventure

    Onward Review – Pixar Hits Another Home Run With Their Latest Magical Adventure

  • More
    • About HNE
    • Advertise With Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Community Policy
    • Terms of Use
  • Register
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
HN Entertainment
No Result
View All Result
Home Features Retrospectives

The Shifting Sands of ‘Dune’: A Franchise Retrospective

We take a look at the Dune franchise and the various live-action incarnations over the last 50 years.

Kirk Johnson by Kirk Johnson
May 18, 2020
Reading Time: 7min read
0
0
The Shifting Sands of ‘Dune’: A Franchise Retrospective

RELATED POSTS

Revisiting The Venom Flick

Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man: Revisiting The First Trilogy

How Marvel Studios is Building The Ultimates Instead of New Avengers

Buy JNews
ADVERTISEMENT

With new stills surfacing on the internet this week for Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science-fiction epic, I figured a look back at the multiple attempts to do the book justice on the big (and small) screen was in order.

The Novel

What is Dune, you ask?  Here’s a brief overview for the uninitiated. Dune was published in 1965 and was the first in a series of six science fiction novels written by author Frank Herbert. The story of Dune centers around the desert planet Arrakis, home to the highly sought-after spice mélange, a consciousness expanding substance that allows users brief glimpses of the future and absolutely necessary for the pilots of vehicles capable of lightspeed travel. Dune’s protagonist is the young noble Paul Atreides, son of Duke Leto Atreides and Lady Jessica of the Bene Gesserit (an all-female order of psychic mystics). The novel and its two sequels follow the life of Paul as he attempts to survive on the harsh planet of Arrakis, while dodging gargantuan sandworms and frequent attempts on his life by a rival noble family, House Harkonnen.

Herbert wrote six novels, though only the most committed Dune fans, like Last Podcast on the Left’s Henry Zebrowski, wade into the deep waters that comprise books four through six. Full disclosure, I read (and enjoyed) book four, God Emperor of Dune, but had no desire to progress further.

Many subsequent Dune novels haven since been written by Brian Hebert (Frank’s son) and Kevin J. Anderson.

 The First Attempt (1971-1973)

 The film rights to Dune were optioned in 1971 by Apjac International, which was the studio behind the original series of Planet of the Apes films. Shooting on the film was scheduled for 1974, but the head of the studio died in 1973 and the rights were sold to a French film concern in 1974, which is how they ended up in the hands of surrealist film director Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Jodorowsky’s Dune (1974-1976)

Jodorowsky on his vision for ‘Dune’Fresh off the success of his mind-bending film The Holy Mountain, Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky was looking for a new project. Talking about why he chose the novel for his next project, the director said “I didn’t read Dune. But I have a friend who say to me (sic) it was fantastic.” So decided, Jodorowsky set out to assemble his team of “spiritual warriors” to bring to life his vision of a movie that would “give the people who took LSD at that time the hallucinations that you get with that drug, but without hallucinating. I wanted to create a prophet.” Here’s an incomplete list of Jodorowsky’s team and their roles:

  • Jean “Mœbius” Giraud – French comic book artist – storyboards, character design
  • HR Giger – artist, designer of the aliens and environments from the Alien franchise – concept art, character design
  • Dan O’Bannon – writer and special effects, Alien – special effects
  • Pink Floyd – yes, that Pink Floyd  – soundtrack
  • Salvidor Dali – surrealist artist – actor
  • Orson Welles – actor, Academy Award-winning director – actor
  • David Carradine – Kung Fu, Kill Bill – actor
  • Mick Jagger – The Rolling Stones – actor

Unfortunately, Jodorowsky’s uncompromising vision was not deemed feasible by Hollywood and the movie was never made, though its fingerprints are all over films from that era. There was a great documentary released in 2014 about this epic film that never was called Jodorowsky’s Dune that is a fantastic watch. I definitely was inspired to write and create after seeing it and have talked it up to anyone who will listen.

A group of costumed peopleThe film was officially cancelled in 1975 and the rights passed into the hands of Dino De Laurentiis in 1976.

 

Dino De Laurentiis, David Lynch and Dune (1984)

Kyle MacLachlan

After acquiring the rights, De Laurentiis commissioned Frank Herbert to write the script, which yielded a movie well over the two-hour run-time De Laurentiis had envisioned. The movie was then handed off to Ridley Scott who planned to split the story into two movies, before ultimately abandoning the project and would shortly go on to make Blade Runner, for which he hired Mœbius to do design work.

After seeing a screening of the film The Elephant Man, De Laurentiis’s niece recommended David Lynch for the project. Lynch, who had just recently turned down the director’s chair on Return of the Jedi, signed on to write and direct Dune. The movie starred Kyle McLachlan (Twin Peaks), Sting, Sean Young (Blade Runner), Sir Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Max Von Sydow (The Exorcist, Game of Thrones) and Virginia Madsen. The soundtrack featured music by Toto and Brian Eno.

Released on December 4, 1984, Lynch’s Dune was a flop, grossing only 30.9 million dollars of the original 40 million dollar budget. To add insult to injury, the movie was panned by many critics, with Roger Ebert describing the movie as “a real mess, an incomprehensible, ugly, unstructured, pointless excursion.” Lynch would go on to disown the movie and to this day refuses to discuss it in interviews.

 

The Sci-Fi Miniseries (2000-2003)

Man with glowing blue eyes

In 2000, nearly twenty years after the disastrous release of the Dune movie, the Sci-Fi network released a mini-series entitled Frank Herbert’s Dune, overseen by executive producer Richard P. Rubenstein, who produced the mini-series adaptations of Stephen King’s The Stand and The Langoliers along with writer/director John Harrison. The first mini-series won two Emmy awards and was successful enough to warrant the development of a second mini-series, Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune in 2003, which adapted the novels Heretics of Dune and Children of Dune and starred James McAvoy (X-Men: First Class, Split).

 

Paramount (2008-2011)

A giant sand worm

Paramount studios acquired the film rights in 2008 and Frank Herbert’s son and co-author Kevin J. Anderson (author of numerous Dune and Star Wars expanded universe novels) were contracted as producers. Originally Peter Berg (Hancock) was slated to direct, but he left the project, which was then handed off to Pierre Morel (Taken). Morel eventually parted ways as well and Paramount killed the project in 2011.

 Dune (2020)

A man and a woman stand on a dune

Credit: Chiabella James (Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.)

The current incarnation of Dune is directed by Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049) and stars Timothee Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name) as Paul Atreides, Zendaya (Spiderman: Far From Home) as Chani, Oscar Isaac (Star Wars) as Duke Leto Atreides, Rebecca Ferguson (Doctor Sleep) as Lady Jessica, Josh Brolin (Avengers: Infinity War) as Gurney Halleck, Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) as Stilgar, Jason Mamoa (Aquaman) as Duncan Idaho, Stellan Skarsgard (The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo) as main villain Baron Valdimir Harokonnen, and David Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy) as Rabban “The Beast” Harokoneen the Baron’s nephew.

Like Jodorowsky, director Denis Villeneuve sees Dune as a prophecy, telling Vanity Fair that the novel was a “distant portrait of the reality of the oil and the capitalism and the exploitation – the overexploitation – of the Earth.” Villeneuve will be splitting the movie into two parts in order to do justice to the rich characters and complex narratives of the novel on the big screen. The first installment is slated to be released on December 18th, 2020.

Dune: The Sisterhood (TBA)

Woman with machine gun

A streaming series from Dune screenwriter Jon Spaihts (Prometheus) titled Dune: The Sisterhood is also in the works at HBO Max but more recently Jon was pulled off the series to help write the second Dune film for Legendary and Denis Villeneuve. The show is expected to be taking inspiration from Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson’s book Sisterhood of Dune part one of the Schools of Dune run.

Wrap It Up Already

If you haven’t read Dune yet, now is a great time to get started. Did you look at Game of Thrones and wish there was interstellar travel, human computers and more giant monsters? Then Dune is for you. All of the intrigue, the murder and the family drama, but in space.

If you love Star Wars, you owe it to yourself (and Frank Herbert) to read Dune. George Lucas was strongly influenced by Dune, (savior of the galaxy tries to survive on desert planet, mystical order of telekinetics, etc.) and I firmly believe we would not have Star Wars had Dune not existed. Say what you want about the later books, but there is not a single Ewok or Gungan-who-shall-go-unnamed to be found in Herbert’s body of work, which is a selling point all in itself. And seriously, if you are a creative person or just love movies, watch Jodorowsky’s Dune.  You will not be disappointed.

0 0 vote
Article Rating
Tags: 2901David LynchDenis VilleneuveDuneDune: The SisterhoodFeaturesFrank HerbertHBO MaxJodorowskyRetrospectivesRidley ScottScience Fiction
Share12TweetShare
Kirk Johnson

Kirk Johnson

Kirk Johnson drinks copious amounts of coffee and writes short fiction.

Related Posts

Revisiting The Venom Flick
Retrospectives

Revisiting The Venom Flick

July 2, 2020
Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man: Revisiting The First Trilogy
Features

Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man: Revisiting The First Trilogy

May 28, 2020
How Marvel Studios is Building The Ultimates Instead of New Avengers
Editorials

How Marvel Studios is Building The Ultimates Instead of New Avengers

May 18, 2020
How Marvel Studios is Building a NOVA Movie
Editorials

How Marvel Studios is Building a NOVA Movie

May 18, 2020
Top Star Wars Ideas For Disney+ After ‘The Clone Wars’
Featured

Top Star Wars Ideas For Disney+ After ‘The Clone Wars’

May 18, 2020
Five Marvel Characters That Deserve A Disney+ Series
Featured

Five Marvel Characters That Deserve A Disney+ Series

May 18, 2020
HN Entertainment

© 2020 Hybrid Network LLC

Navigate Site

  • Register
  • Log In
  • About HNE
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Videos
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • More
    • About HNE
    • Advertise With Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Community Policy
    • Terms of Use

© 2020 Hybrid Network LLC

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

wpDiscuz
0
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x
| Reply
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?