Despite its massive failure, the first attempt at adapting Frank Herbert’s Dune to the big screen made it possible for one of the most iconic science-fiction films to come out. Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Dune promised to be one most ambitious and artistic sci-fi movies ever filmed. Jodorowsky, a director with a very powerful artistic vision, had gathered a dream team to make a ten-hour-long film. However, it was also one of the biggest failures in cinema history as it never got actually made. There are many stories around the film’s production and the people involved in it, but the one regarding the creation of another iconic script is certainly the best.
In 1974, French producer Michel Seydoux reached out to Alejandro Jodorowsky and asked him to direct an adaptation of the novel Dune. Driven by his extravagant and artistic personality, Jodorowsky’s vision was more than ambitious. Among other important people, Chris Foss and Jean Giraud were in the art department, Pink Floyd was in charge of the music, and Salvador Dalí and Orson Welles were part of the cast. Additionally, Dan O’Bannon, who had already co-written John Carpenter’s Dark Star, was the visual effects supervisor. Although the movie was canceled and turned out to be “The Greatest Film Never Made”, this gave Dan O’Bannon the opportunity to develop a different script.
It’s a crazy story. Giger was doing set design with the caveat that he got to take home the furniture that was built from his designs.
Jodorowsky wanted to cast Salvador Dali but he wanted $100,000 an hour. So the plan was to shoot all the footage he could in one hour and use a robot look a like for the rest of the film.
Also, Jodorowsky wanted his own 12 year old son to play Paul Atreides and he spent two years training with various fight instructors for a role that never happened.