History Trivia / Dune

** Several quotes from the 1984 film are widely assumed to be from the novel:

** Both adaptations gave us "the Spice must flow".

** Also, the Herbert Jr. and Anderson books are often nicknamed "[[InNameOnly Mc Dune]]", since they are often accused of having ridiculous amounts of CanonDiscontinuity, {{Flanderization}}, ShrugOfGod and overall shoddy [[ClicheStorm writing quality]]. What's worse is that a lot of these accusations aren't completely baseless.

[[index]]

* DoingItForTheArt: ''Dune'' contains a sprawling universe adorned with myriad details and complicated histories, economics, and ecology. Frank Herbert loved to [[ShownTheirWork show his work]], as detailed below. It began as work for a newspaper article ("They Stopped the Moving Sands"), but he became so enthralled that it became a passionate epic. He never even got around to finishing that article.

** The late Creator/ChristopherReeve of ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' fame was reportedly considered for the role at Paul in one of the earlier pre-Lynch periods - which makes the casting of Kyle [=MacLachlan=] even funnier as he would later voice Superman in the animated feature ''Justice League: The New Frontier''.

*** 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 Creator/DavidCarradine 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.

* ''Trivia/Dune2020''

[[folder:''Dune'' (2000 Mini-Series):]]
* DawsonCasting: Alec Newman was around the same age as Creator/KyleMacLachlan was in 1984. Then three years later he returned as Paul in ''Children of Dune'', set ''decades'' later. This actually worked out better for the sequel: Newman was 26 years old when he played ''15 year old'' Paul in part one of the first miniseries, but they cast him with an eye towards playing older-Paul.
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* ''Trivia/ChildrenOfDune''

[[folder:''Dune'' (1984 Film):]]
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[[folder:Video Games:]]
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[[folder:''Children of Dune'' (2003 Mini-Series):]]
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* ''Trivia/ChildrenOfDune''
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[[folder:''Dune'' (2020 Film):]]
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* ''Trivia/Dune2020''
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* AlanSmithee: Creator/DavidLynch took his name off the extended cut, which was not only directed by Alan Smithee but written by [[MeaningfulName Judas Booth]]. Of course that surname has a [[Film/BlueVelvet history]] with Lynch.
* ApprovalOfGod: For what it's worth, Frank Herbert liked the film, though he did validate some fan complaints.
-->Creator/FrankHerbert: Paul Atreides was a man ''playing'' God, not a god who could make it rain.
* BoxOfficeBomb: Budget, $40 million. Box office, $30,925,690 (domestic). It became an Old Shame to David Lynch and put producer Raffaella De Laurentis in the B-list of producers before she made a comeback with Backdraft.
* DawsonCasting: Music/{{Sting}} and Creator/KyleMacLachlan, both in their mid-late 20s, played the 15 year olds Paul Atreides and Feyd Rautha.
* DeletedScene: Several scenes were cut from the theatrical release of the 1984 film and later restored to the extended versions, which is part of why they're so much longer. Of these, one of the most significant is the death of Thufir Hawat, a powerful scene in which Paul separates Thufir from the captured Harkonnen and offers him his life, only for Thufir to commit suicide rather than kill Paul. This omission creates something of a WhatHappenedToTheMouse moment in the original cut, as Thufir--one of the film's more important characters--can clearly be seen standing among the prisoners (between the Emperor and Gaius Mohiam) in one shot, and simply vanishes in the next; his disappearance is never explained.
* ExecutiveMeddling[=/=]ScrewedByTheNetwork: Dino De Laurentiis pared the film down by hours and the result was a confusing mess to many people who didn't read the book. It was such a negative experience for Lynch that he actually turned down the chance to do a director's cut years later and had his name taken off the extended version that was made without him, so while the extended version does expand on and explain the overall universe and setting better it's still mostly guess work.
* FatalMethodActing: Averted. One scene called for Duke Leto to be strapped to a black stretcher and drugged. During one take, a high-powered bulb positioned above Creator/JurgenProchnow exploded due to heat, raining down molten glass. Remarkably, Prochnow was able to free himself from the stretcher, moments before glass fused itself to the place he had been strapped.
* FollowTheLeader: Like ''Film/FlashGordon1980'', this was Dino [=De Laurentiis=]' attempt to make a ''Franchise/StarWars'' of his own.
* OldShame: For Lynch, as he perceived it as "selling out".
* TheOtherMarty:
** Creator/VirginiaMadsen replaced Anne-Louise Lambert as Princess Irulan.
** 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'', translated to ''Windy City'', 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.
* StarMakingRole: For Creator/KyleMacLachlan which is also his movie debut. Afterwards, he started showing up David Lynch's other works such as ''Film/BlueVelvet'' and ''Series/TwinPeaks''.
* StillbornFranchise: Any plans to adapt the other books in the series were scrapped when the film bombed. It was reported that Creator/DavidLynch was working on the screenplay for "Dune Messiah" and was hired to direct a second and third "Dune" film.
* TroubledProduction: A cover article in ''Time Out'' referred to it as [[http://www.davidlynch.de/dunetimeout.html "the movie that cost the Earth"]], and as ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-famous-filmmakers-whose-dream-projects-were-disasters/ put it]], "''Dune'' changed hands in the wake of collapsed ruin so many times, it was like the Goddamned monkey's paw."
** Plans to adapt Creator/FrankHerbert's [[Literature/{{Dune}} 1965 novel]] to film went back over fifteen years, with the aforementioned Arthur Jacobs being the first to buy the rights to it not long after it came out... at which point he sat on them, consistently holding out for more money, until he died several years later.
** In 1975, Chilean director Alexandro Jodorowsky, with backing from the Seydoux brothers (a pair of French producers), picked up the rights for $100,000. He invested more than $2 million into pre-production, writing a script for a 10-20 hour miniseries starring Creator/SalvadorDali and [[Music/TheRollingStones Mick Jagger]] with music by Music/PinkFloyd, before running out of money, with the rights going to the Seydoux brothers.
** 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. Creator/HarlanEllison confirms it though, adding "Have you ever heard Frank Herbert bellow with rage?") 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''.
** 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 Creator/FreddieJones, 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.
** Churubusco Studios in Mexico City was selected as the shooting location, due to the nearby desert and the devaluation of the peso making it possible to shoot the film for a quarter of what it would've cost in the US. Unfortunately, with that cut-rate cost came cockroach infestations, Mexico's byzantine bureaucracy, brownouts that necessitated having backup generators on hand at all times, a primitive phone network with only one direct line to the production office, worse smog than UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, and Montezuma's Revenge afflicting half the Europeans on the crew. In addition, Francesca Annis accidentally blew herself up with a gas oven and was hospitalized for several weeks. Production began in March 1983 and took six months to complete due to all the problems the production faced, coming in $4-7 million over its planned $38 million budget.
** 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 [[AlanSmithee he refuses to have his name attached to certain cuts of the film]].
* VindicatedByCable: The film was a BoxOfficeBomb, but became a cult classic through TV airings and on home video.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** 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.
** Creator/DavidLean was offered to direct the film, but turned it down.
** Creator/ValKilmer was reportedly almost cast as Paul. Creator/ChristopherReeve also auditioned, while Creator/DexterFletcher and Creator/RobLowe were considered.
** At one point, the film was going to include incestuous themes between Paul and his mother.
** Creator/JackNicholson was reportedly considered for the role of Gurney Halleck at one point. He also considered directing the film in the 1970s, but decided against it, realising what a huge undertaking it would be.
** Feyd-Rautha was originally to have stepped out of the "steam bath" [[MrFanservice 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.
** Creator/GlennClose turned down the role of Lady Jessica, not wanting to play "the girl who is always running and falling down behind the men".
** 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/SarahJessicaParker, Creator/MichellePfeiffer, Creator/MegRyan and Creator/BrookeShields were also considered.
** Creator/JohnHurt was offered the part of Dr Yueh.
** David Lynch might have ended up making a Director's Cut had Universal not assembled the extended television version behind his back.
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[[folder:Video Games:]]

* ''Trivia/DuneII''
* ''Trivia/EmperorBattleForDune''

[[folder:''Dune'' (2000 Mini-Series):]]
* DawsonCasting: Alec Newman was around the same age as Creator/KyleMacLachlan was in 1984. Then three years later he returned as Paul in ''Children of Dune'', set ''decades'' later. This actually worked out better for the sequel: Newman was 26 years old when he played ''15 year old'' Paul in part one of the first miniseries, but they cast him with an eye towards playing older-Paul.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Children of Dune'' (2003 Mini-Series):]]

* ''Trivia/ChildrenOfDune''

[[folder:''Dune'' (2020 Film):]]

* ''Trivia/Dune2020''

* FollowTheLeader: Like ''Film/FlashGordon1980'', this was Dino [=De Laurentiis=]' attempt to make ''Franchise/StarWars''.

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

[[/index]]

[[folder:2000 Mini-Series:]]
* DawsonCasting: Alec Newman was around the same age as Creator/KyleMacLachlan was in 1984. Then three years later he returned as Paul in ''Children of Dune'', set ''decades'' later. This actually worked out better for the sequel: Newman was 26 years old when he played ''15 year old'' Paul in part one of the first miniseries, but they cast him with an eye towards playing older-Paul.

[[folder:''Dune'' (1984 Film:])]

[[folder:Book Series:]]

[[folder:1984 Film:]]

[[/folder:]]

!!The book series:

!!The 1984 film:

!!The miniseries:
* DawsonCasting: For the 2000 miniseries, Alec Newman was around the same age as [=MacLachlan=] was in 1984. Then three years later he returned as Paul in ''Children of Dune'', set ''decades'' later. This actually worked out better for the sequel: Newman was 26 years old when he played ''15 year old'' Paul in part one of the first miniseries, but they cast him with an eye towards playing older-Paul.

!!The 2020 film:
* DawsonCasting: Creator/TimotheeChalamet is actually around the same age as [=MacLachlan=] and Newman were at their respective times, but [[OlderThanTheyLook he just looks younger]], arguably younger than both.

* ApprovalOfGod: For what it's worth, Frank Herbert liked the film.

* DawsonCasting: For the 2000 miniseries, Alec Newman was around the same age as [=MacLachlan=] was in 1984. Then three years later he returned as Paul in ''Children of Dune'', set ''decades'' later.

** SandWorm

** 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.

* AuthorExistenceFailure: Creator/FrankHerbert 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.

** For the 2020 film, Creator/TimotheeChalamet is actually around the same age as [=MacLachlan=] was, but [[OlderThanTheyLook he just looks younger.]]

%%!!The miniseries:

** Creator/ValKilmer was reportedly almost cast as Paul. Creator/ChristopherReeve also auditioned.