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- How Ridley Scott‘s Dune Could Have Advanced Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Prep Work
- Scott Used H.R. Giger’s Artwork for His Version of Dune
- Elements of Scott’s Dune Development Presaged Denis Villeneuve’s Later Adaptation
- A Tragic Loss Led to Scott’s Self-Dismissal from Dune
- Ultimately, Scott May Have Made the Right Decision
As a film enthusiast and connoisseur of Ridley Scott’s work, I cannot help but marvel at the twists and turns that led him away from directing Dune. Having lost his brother Frank to cancer during the pre-production phase, Scott found himself grappling with more than just the daunting task of bringing Herbert’s novel to life on the big screen.
Shortly following the 1965 publication of Frank Herbert’s epic, successful science fiction novel, “Dune,” initial efforts were undertaken to bring the book to life on the big screen. In 1971, producer Arthur P. Jacobs acquired an option for the movie, and development began, with David Lean, director of “Lawrence of Arabia,” initially attached to helm the project.
Unfortunately, Jacobs died in 1973, temporarily handing over the rights. These rights were later acquired by a French film production company in 1974, who entrusted Alejandro Jodorowsky with the task of creating Dune. Known for his films like ‘El Topo’, which earned him both fame and infamy, Jodorowsky’s interpretation of Dune deviated significantly from Herbert’s novels during its development.
At that time, Herbert had penned his first of five Dune sequels, titled Dune: Messiah. Meanwhile, Jodorowsky was charting a different course, using a lot of creative freedom while working on the project, as detailed in the intriguing documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune. Many words have been written about Jodorowsky’s unproduced vision and the criticized film adaptation by David Lynch, which premiered in 1984. However, there is little mention of the temporary stint when Ridley Scott, fresh off successes with Alien and Blade Runner, was attached to direct Dune.
How Ridley Scott’s Dune Could Have Advanced Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Prep Work
Despite the numerous discussions about Jodorowsky’s avant-garde adaptation of Dune and David Lynch’s studio-interfered box office flop in 1984, it’s worth considering that Ridley Scott’s version might have been the most promising. This is due to the fact that Scott was at the height of his science fiction filmmaking prowess following the terrifying space horror he unleashed with Alien in 1979.
Three years prior, in 1976, the rights to Dune – Frank Herbert’s epic tale – were bought by legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis from Jodorowsky’s investors, following the Mexican director’s unsuccessful attempt to bring the story to life. In the spring of ’79, Ridley Scott’s Alien broke new ground in science fiction by transforming H.R. Giger’s haunting artwork into a terrifying space horror. Inspired by Scott’s success in the genre, De Laurentiis considered him as a potential director for Dune.
Scott Used H.R. Giger’s Artwork for His Version of Dune
One element consistent in Scott’s adaptation of the Dune saga, as originally envisioned by Jodorowsky, was the haunting airbrush artwork of Swiss artist H.R. Giger. However, it was Jodorowsky who placed a greater emphasis on artistic expression than on pleasing audiences, a talent that Scott excelled in significantly. In late 1979, Scott embarked on the development of Dune, grappling with the constant challenge of condensing Frank Herbert’s intricate novels into a concise two-hour film, a struggle that director Denis Villeneuve encountered 40 years later as well.
Personally, during the late ’70s, I, as Ridley Scott, grappled with some personal struggles and tumultuous times. Simultaneously, my passion to bring another science fiction masterpiece to life was burning strong – Philip K. Dick’s novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” from 1968, which eventually transformed into the iconic movie “Blade Runner.”
Elements of Scott’s Dune Development Presaged Denis Villeneuve’s Later Adaptation
For many years, Ridley Scott has shared various explanations for his decision to walk away from Dune, yet in the late 1970s, Scott embarked on the project development, enlisting novelist and screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer to compose the script. Wurlitzer was previously involved in writing two significant films, Two Lane Blacktop and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Despite these movies’ disappointing performances at the box office, Wurlitzer still produced a first draft of Dune, which Ridley Scott deemed a “satisfactory summary” of Frank Herbert’s novels.
In 1978, Herbert himself drafted a screenplay for De Laurentiis, which would have spanned approximately three hours if it had ever been released. Ridley Scott initially planned to divide the first book into two movies, similar to how Denis Villeneuve has handled the recent and successful film adaptations of Dune. However, the project was progressing slowly, and Scott understood that his producer, De Laurentiis, preferred films to be completed promptly and within budget constraints.
A Tragic Loss Led to Scott’s Self-Dismissal from Dune
During the third try at bringing Dune to the big screen, an unexpected and heart-wrenching family crisis struck. My beloved older brother, Frank, succumbed to a brief fight against cancer that left me utterly shattered. In the making-of documentary “Ridley Scott: The Journey of His Films,” I shared this painful experience, saying, “With my brother Frank’s untimely demise from cancer while I was preparing the De Laurentiis project, Dune became too personal for me to pursue. So, I went to Dino and handed over the script, telling him it was his.”
Initially, Scott might have believed that family tragedy was the sole reason for his approach to Dune, but later he pointed out additional factors. Producer Dino De Laurentiis was renowned in Hollywood for his thriftiness. Although De Laurentiis successfully raised funds for high-risk film projects, he disliked overspending, a trait that seemed ironic when, much later, David Lynch’s Dune turned out to be an extravagant project that failed to make a profit. However, it was evident at the time Ridley Scott became involved with Dune that the movie would need a substantial budget to match Herbert’s novel’s grandeur.
Ultimately, Scott May Have Made the Right Decision
In a more financially beneficial move for De Laurentiis, Dune should have been developed with Ridley Scott instead of David Lynch, an arthouse filmmaker. However, another significant factor emerged later on in the project, as De Laurentiis’ frugal nature led him to insist that the film be shot in Mexico City. This was a step too far for Scott, who was still mourning the loss of his brother and had reservations about Mexico City, which he found less than appealing at the time. In an interview with Indie Wire, Scott reminisced about De Laurentiis’ demands, “[De Laurentiis] said, ‘Mexico.’ I said, ‘Really?’ So he sent me to Mexico City. And with due respect to Mexico City, it wasn’t exactly the most pleasant place in those days.”
For Scott, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, as he was already tantalized by the much more insular script for Blade Runner — and wary of De Laurentiis’ cost-cutting approach to picture-making. Still, Scott’s interest in Dune was earnest, with Scott remarking that “I was attracted to Dune because it was beyond what I had done on Alien, which was a hardcore horror film. Dune would be a step, very strongly, in the direction of Star Wars.” Regardless of that potential, Scott clearly made the prudent decision (for his own career prospects), when Blade Runner eventually became the pre-eminent science fiction film of the 1980s and vaulted him into the upper-echelon of action directors.
Dune, arguably the most intensely scrutinized film adaptation of the 20th century, has been through numerous phases of development under iconic directors like Lean, Jodorowsky, Scott, and Lynch over the years. Despite this, it’s challenging not to speculate that Ridley Scott, with his groundbreaking science fiction films in the early ’80s, might have provided Herbert’s novels their most successful adaptation before CGI technology reached its full potential in the ’90s. Currently, you can stream both Dune (1984) on Netflix and Dune (2021) on Max.
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2024-09-03 03:02