Considered one of the greatest science fiction stories ever written, Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel Dune paved the way for the epic worlds of Star Wars and Alien. The book has seen several attempts at cinema adaptation over the years, but so far nothing has been able to do it justice.
Now Denis Villeneuve, the director behind Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 is giving it a crack, and some recently released images are enough to get any half-baked sci-fi fan drooling at the mouth.
Legendary science fiction novel Dune is getting a film adaptation from director Denis Villeneuve – and the first glimpse is, literally, out of this world.
Over the years, the novel has seen several attempts at cinema adaptation, including a failed venture by Alejandro Jodorowsky in the ’70s and a widely unpopular version by David Lynch in 1984. Incidentally, French artist Moebius created a series of mindblowing art concepts for the Jodorowsky adaptation back in the day, and they’re well worth the look.
Villeneuve’s Dune looks drastically different from what Moebius had envisioned though. Far from the colourful and fantastical stylings of those early ’70s drawings, a first peak given to Vanity Fair depicts a slick, monochromatic, and decidedly modern world.
At this point in time, the film is due out in December this year, with Timothée Chalamet in the lead role of Paul Atreides. He is accompanied by a star-studded cast including the likes of Jason Momoa, Javier Bardem, Zendaya, and Dave Bautista.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Chalamet has described the “surreal” area of Southern Jordan where the movie was filmed: “There are these Goliath landscapes, which you may imagine existing on planets in our universe, but not on Earth.”
Check out the first glimpse below.
