After being asked earlier this year about Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, he expressed zero interest in talking about his own adaptation, stating ”it was a heartache for me. It’s hard to get much of David Lynch’s perspective on exactly why his Dune ended up being such a mixed bag, as it’s clearly not a subject he enjoys reminiscing about. Also, as weird as it may seem, he was actually a safer choice to direct than Alejandro Jodorowsky, who had attempted to bring Dune to the big screen in the '70s, though his bizarre decisions (like casting an overpaid Salvador Dalí as the Emperor and wanting the film to run 10-14 hours) effectively sunk this version along with the other various financial troubles that keep a film this ambitious from being made. So Dune was supposed to be his call up to the big leagues to direct a sci-fi epic on par with Star Wars (incidentally, Lynch had also been offered the chance to direct Return of The Jedi). RELATED: David Lynch's 'Dune' 4K Blu-ray Coming in AugustĪfter releasing the midnight-movie hit Eraserhead in 1977, Lynch had successfully made the transition to something a little more mainstream with 1980's The Elephant Man, which was nominated for eight Academy Awards. At the time, it must have seemed like Dino De Laurentiis (whose production company oversaw the making of Dune) and his daughter Raffaella De Laurentiis (who ultimately produced the movie) must have seen this as just the natural progression of Lynch’s career. Still, it’s rare for this to happen to a director with as avant-garde of tendencies as Lynch. Knowing what we know now about David Lynch’s style, it’s more than a little odd that he was ever approached to direct a big-budget blockbuster like Dune - though as we’ve now seen with many of the Marvel movies, it’s not uncommon for directors with indie hits to be plucked from obscurity to direct more mainstream fair.
DUNE CAST 1984 MOVIE
That said, Dune was still a pivotal movie in David Lynch’s career, as its critical and box office failure forced Lynch to reassess what kind of movies he wanted to make, which in turn led to one of his greatest triumphs as well as an approach to filmmaking that would guide the rest of his career. Though there are plenty of memorable moments from the 1984 Dune (that cat being milked, the nightmarish Navigator aliens), it’s really hard to make the case that it’s a clearer vision or a more successful adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel. If you were hoping to read a defense of David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation of Dune in comparison to the version that was just released, sorry to disappoint you.