Denis Villeneuve is one of sci-fi’s preeminent visualists, but one opening scene idea was scrapped due to its immense budget.
In an interview with IndieWire, Dune screenwriter Eric Roth was asked about how he joined the project and what early ideas he had for his version of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi opus. According to Roth, he appreciated the source material but wasn’t a “fanboy” which gave him some distance to approach the work.
“That gave me an objective view of it. I grew up in that era, which ‘Dune’ was part and parcel of — psychedelics and all the things that I lived through… And so I said, ‘What the hell, I’ll try it. What have I got to lose?”’
Working with Villeneuve was another reason Roth joined the project. However, an early draft of Roth’s script began with a biblical “Genesis” of the desert planet Arrakis, where Dune is set.
“Because I’m adventurous, I started the movie with what would seem to be Genesis — “and God created’ — and you think you’re seeing the formation of the Earth. And it’s ‘Dune,’ with wild animals, things you’ve never seen.
However, this idea never made it to film because according to Villeneuve, while he loved the idea, if done the director claims the team “can’t afford the rest of the movie.”
Roth says he’s unsure if this was Villeneuve's polite way to pass on the idea, but given Dune’s other visual effects and massive budget, any additional scenes may have stretched the cost too much.
The idea of genesis has been done on film before, notably by Darren Aronofsky in his 2014 biblical movie Noah. But certainly, an entire cold open dedicated to visually representing the creation of an entire planet could add months of production to a movie already split into two parts.
Safe to say Dune still succeeded without this early idea as we considered it one of the best movies of 2021. Check out IGN’s review for Dune here for our take on, what I’d consider, successful adaptation of the unfilmable sci-fi novel.
Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.
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In an interview with IndieWire, Dune screenwriter Eric Roth was asked about how he joined the project and what early ideas he had for his version of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi opus. According to Roth, he appreciated the source material but wasn’t a “fanboy” which gave him some distance to approach the work.
“That gave me an objective view of it. I grew up in that era, which ‘Dune’ was part and parcel of — psychedelics and all the things that I lived through… And so I said, ‘What the hell, I’ll try it. What have I got to lose?”’
Working with Villeneuve was another reason Roth joined the project. However, an early draft of Roth’s script began with a biblical “Genesis” of the desert planet Arrakis, where Dune is set.
“Because I’m adventurous, I started the movie with what would seem to be Genesis — “and God created’ — and you think you’re seeing the formation of the Earth. And it’s ‘Dune,’ with wild animals, things you’ve never seen.
However, this idea never made it to film because according to Villeneuve, while he loved the idea, if done the director claims the team “can’t afford the rest of the movie.”
Roth says he’s unsure if this was Villeneuve's polite way to pass on the idea, but given Dune’s other visual effects and massive budget, any additional scenes may have stretched the cost too much.
The idea of genesis has been done on film before, notably by Darren Aronofsky in his 2014 biblical movie Noah. But certainly, an entire cold open dedicated to visually representing the creation of an entire planet could add months of production to a movie already split into two parts.
Safe to say Dune still succeeded without this early idea as we considered it one of the best movies of 2021. Check out IGN’s review for Dune here for our take on, what I’d consider, successful adaptation of the unfilmable sci-fi novel.
Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.
Continue reading...