Alejandro Jodorowsky's Dune Movie

This was the plan for the movie version of Frank Herbert's Dune, before the David Lynch version that we all know came into existence.

In 1975, Jodorowsky tried to film the story as a ten hour feature, in collaboration with Orson Welles, Dan O'Bannon, Salvador Dalí, Gloria Swanson and others (nicknamed by him as "his seven samurais"). The music would have been done by Pink Floyd. Jodorowsky set up a pre-production unit in Paris that consisted of Chris Foss, a British artist who designed covers for science fiction periodicals, Jean Giraud (Moebius), a French illustrator who created and also wrote and drew for Metal Hurlant magazine, and H. R. Giger. Moebius began designing creatures and characters for the film, while Foss was brought in to design the film's space ships and hardware. Giger started designing the Harkonnen Castle based on Moebius' storyboards and Dali was to play the role of the Emperor for a reported $100,000 an hour. Jodorowsky also hired Dan O'Bannon to head the special effects department. Dali and Jodorowsky began quarreling over money and just as the storyboards, designs, and the script were finished, the financial backing dried up. Frank Herbert travelled to Europe in 1976 to find that two million dollars were already spent in pre-production and that the Jodorowsky's script would result in a 14-hour movie ("It was the size of a phonebook" Herbert recalled). Although Jodorowsky took several creative liberties with his novel, Herbert stated that he and Jodorowsky had an amicable relationship.

Would this movie have any sucess? Would it revolutionize film-making as we know it? Or would be just a massive flop?
 
Hey I love Dune just like any one else but 14 hours!!! Maybe if they cut it back to three three hour movies, coming out over successive years.
 
Hey I love Dune just like any one else but 14 hours!!! Maybe if they cut it back to three three hour movies, coming out over successive years.

I agree. Not even the most hardcore of hardcore Dune fans would sit through 14 hour Dune movie. Still, its kind of a shame that it didn't happen. I would have loved to see what Giger would have come up with. Considering look of the alien in Alien, that man must have a very perverted mind.
 
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Oh man, I would love a 14 hour movie.

Of course, there'd have to be breaks in between, of a few days or so. Think about how they produce the opera the Ring (which is 16 hours long, for those of you who don't know). Four operas of three-four hours each spaced over about a week.
 
Against Alexandro Jodororwsky DUNE look Star Wars like a cheap litte TV-soap !

The Space Ships From FOSS
CFDune01.jpg

Spice Container

CFDune03.jpg

Pirat Ship Destroy lose Spice in Space

H.R Giger 4 year bevor ALIEN
hr_giger_dune_II.jpg

Palast of Harkonnen

gigerworm.jpg

Sandworm on Arrakis

MOEBIUS
baron.jpg

Orson Welles als Vladimir Harkonnen

leto2.jpg

Alexandro Jodororwsky as Duke Leto

paul.jpg

Brontis Jodorowsky as Paul Atreides

kynes.jpg

David Carradine as Liet Kynes

emperor.jpg

Salvador Dalí as the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV for a fee of $100,000.

his Rolle use A transparencies toilet ! (No Joke)
the Rest of movie play a Mechanical Dali Doll

in Movie Shaddam IV ist Insane he and Mechanical Twin Kill radom for Fun.

major Problem of DUNE is Alexandro Jodororwsky him self !
he wantet to make a 14 hour attack against the Vatitcan Church
with shock image, wat bring in USA a X-Rating

a Vision who movie look like give his Comic Serie INCAL and Caste of Metabarons (COOOL Stuff)

more DUNE here
http://www.duneinfo.com/unseen/
 
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Alain Delon (mentioned as Duncan Idaho in Jodorowsky's wiki article) and David Carradine would have been interesting, but as much as I might like his work, I have to say that Dali as Shaddam would have ruined the movie. He might have worked as the Baron if not for the fact that he looks completely different from how any reader would picture the character.

Even with Dali and length issues aside, Jodorowsky's a creator, too original an artist to adapt someone else's very original work, perhaps even to understand it. He would have made Dune his own in a way that not even Lynch did and I feel that the result would have been too weird for its own good. And that's actually one of my objections for Dali as well (the other being the obscene costs).
 
Oh man, I would love a 14 hour movie.

Of course, there'd have to be breaks in between, of a few days or so. Think about how they produce the opera the Ring (which is 16 hours long, for those of you who don't know). Four operas of three-four hours each spaced over about a week.

There is no way anyone would watch a 14 hour movie in one sitting. Most people have trouble sitting through a movie that's about 3 hours long.

In the late 1960s, War and Peace was produced in the USSR with a runtime of 484 minutes (8 hours & 4 minutes), but was released in 4 parts over a period of 2 years. This would probably be the best option for a project like this. Break it up into parts rather than the whole thing. As popular as the Lord of the Rings trilogy was, would you want to watch the entire trilogy uncut in one sitting?
 

NapoleonXIV

Banned
It'd be a total flop due to the length and bad reviews, busting whatever studio made it.

Then it would come back, first being very successful as a TV miniseries and then on tapes and dvds as they were developed. It would be a cult classic and a very 'seminal' work, a movies movie.

David Carradine would keep his cachet as a major star much longer. I always pictured Liet-Kynes as him.
 
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