Denis Villeneuve's Dune

In 1984, David Lynch was tasked to adapting the seminal piece of sci-fi literature: Dune

It was...an interesting effort.

36 years later, Denis Villeneuve, who got himself on the map with Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 is now set to release a new, hopefully more comprehensive take on Dune.

And now, we have a proper first look.

I am really nervous about this adaptation,I just want it to be good

One issue with adapting Dune is that it served as inspiration for so many other pieces of sci-fi that it seems cliche to modern audiences, it's the same problem with the John Carter books.

I hope not, considering Dune is much better known than the Barsoom books.

I'm iffy on it being split into two movies. I don't recall a single time that has ever actually ended up working. Still, as long as it's at least as good as the 2001 miniseries (and better than the '84 movie, which shouldn't be that difficult), I'll be happy.

Alec Newman nailed it as Muad'Dib in the sequel miniseries, so I'll be interested to see if the new guy can top his performance.

Splitting it is a risk but honestly I don't know if you could do it proper justice in one movie unless you are looking at several hours of run time, also risky. If they follow the model of Jackson's LOTR adaptation where it was always one story/shoot that was always meant to be split up in actual viewing then it might work out okay.

Difference is, LOTR was already split into three separate books, with each feeling complete enough on their own, Dune isn't like that.

There's only one book for the first installment, and while it is split into three sections internally, individually they're all pretty short and can't carry a movie on their own. And we're apparently only getting two movies anyway, so I have no idea where they're going to end the first one, there's no spot in the middle of the book that would make a good stopping point without being a massive anticlimax.

This is why the miniseries worked. Three sections = three episodes. Miniseries are almost always the way to go with books like this.

When I first heard a new Dune live action was coming out, I thought it would be a series. Maybe on Netflix. I'm a little iffy on a film, for the reasons Primis has already said.

Yeah, I grant you the comparison isn't a perfect one. But I do feel that if they are set on splitting it up, going in knowing they want two separate films is more likely to work than filming one epic length movie that then gets chopped into two.

All the same though, Dune isn't a short book like The Hobbit, it's fucking thick.

I'm okay with the split since the book splits in two quite nicely already between Paul and Jessica fleeing into the desert, after the fall of their house, and the rise of Muad'dib.

It's been a long time since I read the first book, but doesn't that happen a bit too early to be a good cut-off point?

Yeah, that only happens about one-third in.

As previously mentioned if you really had to choose a medium to adapt to, a mini series would be preferable to a movie, as the natural break points such as they are probably suit it much better - plus if you wanted to play around more with the time line it works better in that format. But here we are.

I think a 12-episode miniseries would be a good approach.

I just read there's also going to be an HBO Max prequel series about the Bene Gesserit. My stance on this movie has gone from "mildly skeptical" to "extremely skeptical". They are getting way ahead of themselves.

They basing that on some of Brian Herbert's crap? You're right to be skeptical.

I'm cautiously optimistic. Villeneuve has an amazing track record: Incendies, Polytechnique, Sicario, Arrival, BR 2049, etc and it's been his life's ambition to direct Dune. The cast looks impressive, although I've never heard of the actor playing Paul, he seems kinda boyish looking which you want for Paul at the beginning, but how do they handle it once he ages into adulthood?

Timothée Chalamet is an adult I'm pretty sure, so it shouldn't be too hard. Although he's only 24. At worst a little bit of makeup should do the trick (I haven't read the book so I don't know how old he's supposed to be).

He did great in The King, so I'm sure he'll be a fine Paul Atreides.

God, I hope they're not basing it off that. Either way though, greenlighting an expanded universe before your first movie's even out is putting the cart before the horse.

Apparently it's already lost its first showrunner. Red flags all around.

I'm pretty sure they're basing it on Frank Herbert's stuff, which Brian Herbert based his stuff on. We just have to hope they do better.

As for putting the cart before the horse, these sort of things get talked about all the time. I highly doubt they're working on it, they're just like "we think this movie is going to do well, let's think about future opportunities." Definitely odd that they're announcing it already, though.

This sort of announcement isn't that odd. That Krypton TV show that started in 2018? It was announced in 2014 as a prequel to Man of Steel. It turned into...not that (for the best), but it was announced really early.

In this case, I doubt they'd really start anything past pre-production until they know how well the movie will do, especially since shows get cancelled and canned in pre-production all the time. It's less "we assume this movie will do well!" and more "Here's a thing we want to be an HBO Max exclusive! Sign up for HBO Max!"

Saying the show "lost its showrunner already" is kind of disingenuous.

He's still a producer, he's simply stepping down from that rather demanding job because he's taking on a different demanding job, namely directing the sequel to this movie. Framing it as some sort of troubled production is inaccurate.

First trailer coming tomorrow!

"Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. And I will permit it to pass over me. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

As it turns out, this is lifted almost word-for-word from the original novel.

I never read the book, but I'll be damned if the delivery of that speech didn't win me over.

Speaking of which, here it is.

Wow. That looks so much better than I expected!

Trying real hard not to get too excited now. We've already had one terrible movie and one decent miniseries. Hopefully, the third time will be the charm.