History Trivia / Dune

** Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter was originally cast as Princess Irulan, but scheduling conflicts with ''Literature/ARoomWithAView'' forced her to leave the film. Creator/KimBasinger, Creator/BridgetFonda, Creator/JodieFoster, Creator/MelanieGriffith, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh, Creator/KristyMcNichol, Creator/TatumONeal, Creator/SarahJessicaParker, Creator/MichellePfeiffer, Creator/MegRyan and Creator/BrookeShields were also considered.

** Problems didn't end with the production. The film was taken out of Lynch's hands in post-production, and diverged so greatly from his vision that he refuses to have his name attached to certain cuts of the film.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://dune.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Dune Wiki]] and [[http://wiki.dune2k.com Dune2K Wiki]].

* TheWikiRule: [[http://dune.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page The Dune Wiki]].

** ** Aldo Ray was cast for Gurney Halleck, but later fired for alcoholism, as confirmed by Creator/SeanYoung (Chani). The official word was that he left due to "health reasons". Creator/PatrickStewart replaced Ray on extremely short notice. Already working on a movie (''Uindii'', directed by Masato Harada) in locations across Europe, he was filming in the Moselle valley in Germany on a Friday morning, then ended up in Mexico City at Saturday night for a stillsuit fitting. He had also been mistakenly chosen by Lynch on his name alone. (Stewart already knew of Lynch, and admired him and his work.) Lynch thought he was getting another Patrick Stewart that played King Henry the Fourth in a London matinee of ''Theatre/HenryIV'', who Lynch and others of the production team had seen backstage in costume. Lynch was impressed with his look and asked the others to find out the actor's name. When Ray was fired, Lynch brought up the actor's name as the replacement. When Stewart showed up at Lynch's hotel room to meet him (presumably before the fitting), Lynch had no clue who he was, but of course it was far too late to go look for someone else. Stewart was also accommodated for his role in ''Uindii'' by being flown in and out of Mexico City to Europe for around the next six weeks.

*** Jodorowsky was planning to cast Creator/SalvadorDali as the Emperor, Creator/OrsonWelles as Baron Harkonen, Music/MickJagger as Feyd, Creator/GloriaSwanson as the Reverend Mother and David Carradine as Duke Leto. Also, Jodorowsky cast his son Brontis as Paul Atreides, and had him go through several months training in martial arts and other various fighting styles before the project was shelved.

*** Jodorowsky was planning to cast Creator/SalvadorDali as the Emperor, Creator/OrsonWelles as Baron Harkonen, Music/MickJagger as Feyd, Creator/GloriaSwanson as the Reverend Mother and David Carradine as Duke Leto. Also, Jodorowsky cast his son Brontis as Paul Atreides, and him go through several months training in martial arts and other various fighting styles before the project was shelved.

*** Jodorowsky was planning to cast Creator/SalvadorDali as the Emperor, Creator/OrsonWelles as Baron Harkonen, and Music/MickJagger as Feyd, Creator/GloriaSwanson as the Reverend Mother and David Carradine as Duke Leto. Also, Jodorowsky had cast his son as Paul Atreides, who then spent several months training in martial arts and other various fighting styles before the project was shelved.

*** Duke Leto was going to be accidentally castrated following a ritual bullfight. Paul would have been conceived as a virgin birth by way of his mother Jessica taking a drop of his father Leto's blood and using her Bene Gesserit powers to turn it into semen to impregnate herself.
*** [[spoiler:Duke Leto's death]] in Jodorowsky's version would have been even more gruesome and graphic than his death in the book. In the original book, [[spoiler:Leto dies of poisoning.]] In Jodorowsky's version, [[spoiler:Leto would have been mutilated to death, his arms and legs cut off with a giant set on pincers, tortured in an attempt to find Paul's location. When Leto dies, the Baron in frustration then grabs the pincers and cuts off Leto's head and tosses it into a box with the rest of his severed limbs, leaving what was left of his body on the table.]]
*** Jodorowsky had intended to have the ending of his film be vastly different from the book, having [[spoiler:Lady Margot Fenring killing Paul by surprise]]. But [[spoiler:as he dies, Paul's consciousness then infuses into the planet Arrakis]]. Paul then mocks the Emperor, [[spoiler:by moving about from person to person, including Alia, Stilgar, and Irulan, who when inhabited, all speak in Paul's voice]]. The [[spoiler:non-corporeal]] Paul, fulfilling the prophecy of the Kwisatz Haderach, then causes Arrakis' terraforming to occur [[spoiler:immediately, with the skies turning a brilliant blue]]. The movie then ends with the planet [[spoiler:breaking orbit, to roam throughout space, to re-educate the universe]].
*** The creative team included artists H.R. Geiger, Jean Giraud, Chriss Foss and Dan O'Bannon. The move got as far as conceptual art and storyboards before being scrapped.

** Thanks to the 2013 documentary ''Jodorowsky's Dune'', we know more of how Creator/AlejandroJodorowsky's 1970s version of ''Dune'' would've played out:

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:

*** Jodorowsky was planning to cast Salvador Dali as the Emperor, Orson Welles as Baron Harkonen, and Mick Jagger as Feyd. Also, Jodorowsky had cast his son as Paul Atreides, who then spent several months training in martial arts and other various fighting styles before the project was shelved. Creator/GloriaSwanson and David Carradine were also going to star.
*** Jodorowsky was also going to use different bands to compose different musical leitmotifs for each planet. He had already signed up the bands Pink Floyd for Caladan and the french prog band Magma for Giedi Prime.

* ActorAllusion: Siân Phillips has some experience playing [[Series/IClaudius a scheming matriarch]].
* AlanSmithee: Creator/DavidLynch disowned the television version, using the alias "Judas Booth".
* ApprovalOfGod: For what it's worth, Frank Herbert liked Lynch's film.

* DisownedAdaptation: Herbert strongly disliked the direction Jodorowsky's version took.

* TheOtherMarty: Virginia Madsen replaced Anne-Louise Lambert as Princess Irulan.

** Creator/ValKilmer was reportedly almost cast as Paul in the 1984 film version. Creator/ChristopherReeve also auditioned.
** At one point, the David Lynch film was going to include incestuous themes between Paul and his mother.

** Aldo Ray was cast for Gurney Halleck, but later fired for alcoholism, as confirmed by Creator/SeanYoung (Chani). The official word was that he left due to "health reasons".
** Creator/PatrickStewart replaced Ray on extremely short notice. Already working in a movie (''Uindii'', directed by Masato Harada) in locations across Europe, he was filming in the Moselle valley in Germany on a Friday morning, then ended up in Mexico City at Saturday night for a stillsuit fitting. He had also been mistakenly chosen by Lynch on his name alone. (Stewart already knew of Lynch, and admired him and his work.) Lynch thought he was getting another Patrick Stewart that played King Henry the Fourth in a London matinee of ''Henry IV'', who Lynch and others of the production team had seen backstage in costume. Lynch was impressed with his look and asked the others to find out the actor's name. When Ray was fired, Lynch brought up the actor's name as the replacement. When Stewart showed up at Lynch's hotel room to meet him (presumably before the fitting), Lynch had no clue who he was, but of course it was far too late to go look for someone else. Stewart was also accommodated for his role in ''Uindii'' by being flown in and out of Mexico City to Europe for around the next six weeks.

** Creator/PatrickStewart replaced Ray on extremely short notice. Already working in a movie in locations across Europe, he was filming in the Moselle valley in Germany on a Friday morning, then ended up in Mexico City at Saturday night for a stillsuit fitting. He had also been mistakenly chosen by Lynch on his name alone. (Stewart already knew of Lynch, and admired him and his work.) Lynch thought he was getting another Patrick Stewart that played King Henry the Fourth in a London matinee of ''Henry IV'', who Lynch and others of the production team had seen backstage in costume. Lynch was impressed with his look and asked the others to find out the actor's name. When Ray was fired, Lynch brought up the actor's name as the replacement. When Stewart showed up at Lynch's hotel room to meet him (presumably before the fitting), Lynch had no clue who he was, but of course it was far too late to go look for someone else. Stewart was also accommodated for acting in the other production by being flown in and out of Mexico City to Europe for around the next six weeks.

** Feyd-Rautha was originally to have stepped out of the "steam bath" nude. Sting had agreed to shoot the scene nude, but the studio panicked and told the costume designers that they had to put something on him. The skimpy winged g-string he wore was made almost at the very last minute before the scene was set to film.

** Italian independent mega-producer Creator/DinoDeLaurentiis was the next to get involved, buying the rights from the Seydoux brothers for $2 million and turning to Herbert himself to write the script. When that didn't work out, he turned to Creator/RidleyScott, fresh off the success of ''Film/{{Alien}}''. That, too, didn't work out -- Scott's vision for the film's aesthetic was similar to that of ''Alien'', which de Laurentiis felt would've made the film feel too derivative, and there was also an argument over Scott and his co-writer Rudolph Wurlitzer writing an incest scene that wasn't in the book, which Herbert himself stepped in over. (Scott denies that the latter part happened.) Finally, just when it was looking like the film might actually enter production, Scott's older brother, Frank, died unexpectedly, forcing the emotionally devastated Scott to withdraw from the project entirely. Scott opted not to return after recovering, deciding instead to make ''Film/BladeRunner''.

** Creator/PatrickStewart replaced Ray on extremely short notice. Already working in a movie in locations across Europe, he was filming in the Moselle valley in Germany on a Friday morning, then ended up in Mexico City at Saturday night for a stillsuit fitting. He had also been mistakenly chosen by Lynch on his name alone. (Stewart already knew of Lynch, and admired him and his work.) Lynch thought he was getting another Patrick Stewart that played King Henry the Fourth in a London matinee of ''Henry IV'', who Lynch and others of the production team had seen backstage in costume. Lynch was impressed with his look and asked the others to find out the actor's name. When Stewart showed up at Lynch's hotel room to meet him (presumably before the fitting), Lynch had no clue who he was, but of course it was far too late to go look for someone else. He was also accommodated for acting in the other production by being flown in and out of Mexico City to Europe for around the next six weeks.

** Creator/PatrickStewart replaced Ray on extremely short notice. Already working in a movie in locations across Europe, he was filming in the Moselle valley in Germany on a Friday morning, then ended up in Mexico City at Saturday night for a stillsuit fitting. He had also been mistakenly chosen by Lynch on his name alone. (Stewart already knew of Lynch, and admired him and his work.) Lynch thought he was getting another Patrick Stewart that played King Henry the Fourth in a London matinee of ''Henry IV'', who Lynch and others of the production team had seen backstage in costume and was impressed with his look. When Stewart showed up at Lynch's hotel room to meet him (presumably before the fitting), Lynch had no clue who he was, but of course it was far too late then to go look for someone else. He was also accommodated for acting in the other production by being flown in and out of Mexico City to Europe for around the next six weeks.

** Creator/PatrickStewart replaced Ray on extremely short notice. Already working in a movie in locations across Europe, he was filming in the Moselle valley in Germany on a Friday morning, then ended up in Mexico City at Saturday night for a stillsuit fitting. He had also been mistakenly chosen by Lynch on his name alone. (Stewart already knew of Lynch, and admired him and his work.) Lynch thought he was getting another Patrick Stewart that played King Henry the Fourth in a London matinee of ''Henry IV'', who Lynch and others of the production team had seen backstage in costume and was impressed with his look. When Stewart showed up at Lynch's hotel room (presumably before the fitting), Lynch had no clue who he was, but of course it was far too late then to go look for someone else. He was also accommodated for acting in the other movie in Europe by being flown in and out of Mexico City to Europe for around the next six weeks.

*** Jodorowsky was planning to cast Salvador Dali as the Emperor, Orson Welles as Baron Harkonen, and Mick Jagger as Feyd. Also, Jodorowsky had cast his son as Paul Atreides, who then spent several months training in martial arts and other various fighting styles before the project was shelved. Gloria Swanson and David Carradine were also going to star.

** Finally, de Laurentiis found Creator/DavidLynch, who had just made ''Film/TheElephantMan'', and hired him as writer and director. The first argument was over casting; Lynch wanted to cast Freddie Jones, who he had worked with on ''The Elephant Man'', and had to go against much resistance from de Laurentiis to do so. De Laurentiis planned to fire Jones, but changed his mind upon seeing the first dailies and went so far as to apologize to Jones for being skeptical of him.

** Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter was originally cast as Princess Irulan, but scheduling conflicts with ''Film/ARoomWithAView'' forced her to leave the film. Creator/KimBasinger, Creator/BridgetFonda, Creator/JodieFoster, Creator/MelanieGriffith, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh, Creator/KristyMcNichol, Creator/TatumONeal, Creator/SarahJessicaParker, Creator/MichellePfeiffer, Creator/MegRyan and Creator/BrookeShields were also considered.

** Creator/RidleyScott was originally attached to direct. He left the production after his older brother suddenly passed away. Scott wanted to start working as soon as possible, but Dune would take far too long to reach production. Scott decided to leave the project in favor of ''Film/BladeRunner, which was ready to start production immediately.

* AuthorExistenceFailure: Frank Herbert died in 1985, leaving the ''Dune'' series on an apparent massive cliffhanger. His son and Kevin J. Anderson continued the series to mixed critical and reader response.

* BoxOfficeBomb: Budget: $40 million. Box Office: $30.9 million.

** Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter was originally cast as Princess Irulan, but scheduling conflicts with ''Film/ARoomWithAView'' forced her to leave the film.
** Creator/JohnHurt was offered the part of Dr Yueh.
** Creator/JodieFoster, Creator/BrookeShields, Creator/KimBasinger, Creator/MelanieGriffith, Creator/MichellePfeiffer, Creator/MegRyan, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh, Creator/KristyMcNichol, Creator/TatumONeal, Creator/BridgetFonda and Creator/SarahJessicaParker all were considered to play Princess Irulan.

* DisownedAdaption: Herbert strongly disliked the direction Jodorowsky's version took.