15. Entertainment & Pop Culture

Is this 'Dune' adaptation going to be the one that sticks?

After many delays spanned across the pandemic, Frank Herbert's classic novel "Dune" was finally released in theaters as the book's latest film adaptation. The movie came out on October 22nd nearly a year after the original release date. According to CNN, the film has been hyped up to be one of this year's highly anticipated releases.

The film stars include Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Josh Brolin, and Oscar Isaac. It is directed by Denis Villeneuve, who is known for his work on Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and Arrival (2016). Both of which he directed.

Dune (2021)

The first onscreen adaption came out in 1984. Then, two decades later a TV mini-series followed. Critics and the audience alike found that the 1984 adaptation and TV mini-series were more than a little off the script from the original book. The 1984 version of the film was directed by David Lynch and faced defeat when the film brought in $30.9 million when their budget was $40 million. 

At the time, one critic, Roger Ebert, said "This movie is a real mess, an incomprehensible, ugly, unstructured, pointless excursion into the murkier realms of one of the most confusing screenplays of all time." He continued to call it a "project that was seriously out of control from the start." Ebert explained that producers hoped "that everybody who has read the books will want to see the movie," and ended with "Not if the word gets out, they won't"

Dune (1984)

The 2000 mini-series had better success and continued to win two Emmy awards for cinematography and special visual effects. New York Times noted that the first part was watched by more than 3 million people. The series starred, at the time, an unknown actor James McAvoy. Today, we would recognize that name from the X-Men series and countless other cult classics such as It Chapter Two and The Chronicles of Narnia.

As of November 2nd, Dune (2021) has grossed over $300 million worldwide, $71 million of that domestic grosses. Youtube video essayist Patrick Willems told CNN, "I'm really curious how the general public will react and respond to it. We don't get an awful lot of movies like 'Dune,' so personally I hope that people show up for it."

Scene from Dune (2021)