Jodorowsky's Dune
| Jodorowsky's Dune | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Frank Pavich |
| Produced by | Frank Pavich Donald Rosenfeld Stephen Scarlata Michel Seydoux Travis Stevens |
| Starring | Alejandro Jodorowsky Michel Seydoux H.R. Giger Chris Foss Nicolas Winding Refn Amanda Lear Richard Stanley |
| Cinematography | David Cavallo |
| Edited by | Paul Docherty Alex Ricciardi |
Production company | Snowfort Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Jodorowsky's Dune is a 2013 American documentary film directed by Frank Pavich. The film explores Chilean-French director Alejandro Jodorowsky's attempt to adapt and film Frank Herbert's science fiction novel Dune in the mid-1970s.
History
In 1973, film producer Arthur P. Jacobs optioned the film rights to Dune but died before a film could be developed. The option was then taken over two years later by director Alejandro Jodorowsky, who proceeded to approach, among others, the prog rock groups Pink Floyd and Magma for some of the music, artists H. R. Giger and Jean Giraud for set and character design, Dan O'Bannon for special effects, and Salvador Dalí, Orson Welles, Gloria Swanson, and others for the cast.
Frank Herbert traveled to Europe in 1976 to find that $2 million of the $9.5 million budget had already been spent in pre-production, and that Jodorowsky's script would result in a 14-hour movie ("It was the size of a phonebook", Herbert later recalled). Jodorowsky took creative liberties with the source material, but Herbert said that he and Jodorowsky had an amicable relationship. The project ultimately stalled for financial reasons. The film rights lapsed until 1982, when they were purchased by Italian filmmaker Dino DeLaurentiis.
Production
The documentary was officially announced in May 2011.[1] Director Pavich filmed an extensive series of interviews with the principal players involved in the failed 1970s adaptation, shooting in France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Reception
The production premiered at the Director's Fortnight at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.[2] Reviews for the documentary were very positive. Variety called the film a "mind-blowing cult movie" and said that director Pavich "happens upon a compelling theory: that even in its still-born form, the film manifested the sort of collective conscious that Jodorowsky was trying to peddle through its plot, trickling down to influence other sci-fi films that followed."[3] The Hollywood Reporter declared the "entertaining documentary makes the case for this overblown epic as a legendary lost masterpiece."[4]
See also
- Dune (novel)
- Dune (film)
- Frank Herbert's Dune, TV miniseries (2000)
- Frank Herbert's Children of Dune, TV miniseries (2003)
- Technology of the Dune universe
References
- ^ "Alejandro Jodorowsky's 'Dune' Will Finally Hit Screens". The Hollywood Reporter. 2011-05-12. Retrieved 2013-05-19.
- ^ "U.S. Fare Looms Large in Directors' Fortnight". Variety. 2013-04-23. Retrieved 2013-04-30.
- ^ "Cannes Film Review: 'Jodorowsky's Dune'". Variety. 2013-05-19. Retrieved 2013-05-19.
- ^ "Jodorowsky's Dune: Cannes Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 2013-05-19. Retrieved 2013-05-19.
