The first attempt at adapting Herbert's prose
A cast out of this world
Jodorowsky's ambitious vision and its mark on pop culture
Sci-Fi in a Lynchian style
What's next for the Dune adaptation?
The first attempt at adapting Herbert's prose
The second installment of the Dune moviedirected by Denis Villeneuve list of philippines consumer email remains one of the highest-grossing films of the year according to the box office ranking. To date, the film has earned over $700 million, which, given the budget of $190 million, is a significant return for this production.
It is worth noting that this is not the first attempt to adapt this cult 1965 science fiction novel for the screen. In 1984, two decades after its premiere, a film version was made, directed by David Lynch and produced by Dino De Laurentiis. However, the first screen adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune could have looked completely different.
Work on a film adaptation of the prose began in the 1970s, when Jean-Paul Gibon acquired the rights to the title. He chose Chilean surrealist artist Alejandro Jodorowski, known for his avant-garde and experimental films such as "The Holy Mountain" and "The Mole", as the director. Michel Seydoux, a French businessman, was the producer.
The film's budget was initially estimated at almost $10 million. In order to realize his artistic vision, Jodorowsky decided to invite only extraordinary artists to collaborate. To create the storyboard, he hired Jean Giraud, a comic book creator who later became famous under the pseudonym Moebius. Next, Jodorowsky began looking for a special effects specialist. Before Chris Foss joined the team, talks were held with Douglas Trumbull, who was responsible for the effects on 2001: A Space Odyssey. The team was also joined by Dan O'Bannon, who was previously responsible for the special effects on John Carpenter's Dark Star and later created the cult Return of the Living Dead.
A cast out of this world
Jodorowsky planned an equally extraordinary cast for the film. He planned to entrust the main role of Paul Atreides to his 12-year-old son Brontis. His film father, Prince Leto, was to be played by David Carradine, known from the series of Kung Fu films. The role of the Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit order was to be played by Gloria Swanson, a former silent film star, known from Billy Wilder's film "Sunset Boulevard". Orson Welles himself was to play Baron Harkonnen. Supposedly, Jodorowsky encouraged him to come out of retirement with the promise that he would hire his favorite chef to cook meals for him on set throughout the filming. His nephew, Feyd-Rauth, was to be played by Mick Jagger himself. Interestingly, in Lynch's version, the same role was given to Sting.
The most controversial casting decision, however, was to cast Salvador Dalí himself as Emperor Padishah. He was supposed to be paid $100,000 for every minute on set, which would make him the highest-paid actor in the world. However, he was supposed to appear in the entire film for only 3 minutes. A robotic stunt double would replace him in the remaining shots. Dalí himself also had quite high demands, he wanted to be transported everywhere by helicopter and to be able to hire a group of his friends as extras. He also demanded that his muse Amanda Lear be cast as Princess Irulan, to which Jodorowsky agreed.
Salvador Dalí introduced Jodorowsky to the work of Swiss artist HR Giger, who would later become responsible for the graphic concepts associated with the Harkonnen family. Giger later used these unused works to create the titular Alien character from Ridley Scott's film.
Jodorowsky also wanted the film’s soundtrack to be as unique and intriguing as the visuals. Initial proposals included bands like Gong and Tangerine Dream and Mike Oldfield. Ultimately, Pink Floyd and Magma were chosen.
Jodorowsky's ambitious vision and its mark on pop culture
However, work on the film quickly began to spiral out of control. Jodorowsky wanted to create a film that was over 10 hours long, and at the time, a two-hour film was considered too long. In the meantime, as much as $5 million had been spent on pre-production costs, and the total budget was to increase to as much as $15 million. Interestingly, the first "Star Wars" released a year later had a budget of $11 million.
