Dune: a film that never was, with Jodorowsky’s epic vision (video).
Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts as we embark on a cosmic journey into the heart of what could have been the most spectacular sci-fi film ever not made: Jodorowsky’s Dune. There was even a delightful documentary, directed by Frank Pavich, that takes us on a starry-eyed odyssey into Alejandro Jodorowsky’s ambitious, yet ultimately unrealized, dream to adapt Frank Herbert’s iconic 1965 novel, Dune. In the above video, our own dynamic duo, Ed and Jim flip through the illustrations for the film created by Moebius and HR Giger.
And that documentary we mentioned? Picture this: it’s the mid-1970s, and Jodorowsky, a cult film director with more imagination than a galaxy has stars, sets out to create what he envisions as a film that would give even the most vivid dreams a run for their money. The tale of Jodorowsky’s Dune is a labyrinth of ‘what-ifs’ that could make even the most stoic of Spacing Guild Navigators shed a tear.
The documentary, a hit at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and later snatched up by Sony Pictures Classics, is like a treasure map to a cinematic El Dorado. It shows us a Dune that’s as sprawling and intricate as the sands of Arrakis itself. Jodorowsky’s vision was to create not just a film, but an experience – a whopping 14-hour epic! Hollywood, however, with its two-hour attention span, was less than enthused.
Jodorowsky’s casting choices were as wild as a ride on a sandworm. Salvador Dalí as the Emperor? Yes, and he demanded to be the highest-paid actor in history, no less. Jodorowsky’s solution? Trim his scenes to an hour and replace him with a robot for the rest. Oh, and let’s not forget Dalí’s request for a toilet-throne made of dolphins. Talk about royal flushes.
The art and imagery planned for this cinematic jewel were no less than stellar. French artist Jean “Moebius” Giraud, along with H.R. Giger and Chris Foss, conjured up a storyboard of 3000 drawings. This was not just concept art; it was a portal to another universe. And the music? Let’s just say that Pink Floyd and Magma were to be the minstrels guiding us through this interstellar journey. The influence of Jodorowsky’s unmade masterpiece is like the spice Melange – it’s everywhere. Elements of his grand vision trickled down to inspire a pantheon of sci-fi classics, from Star Wars to The Terminator and The Fifth Element. It’s like Jodorowsky planted a dream-seed that blossomed across the sci-fi landscape.
Though Jodorowsky’s Dune never saw the light of a projector, the documentary suggests that its spirit lived on, especially in the graphic novel series The Incal, by Jodorowsky and Giraud. It’s as if the duo took their Dune dreams and channeled them into another form of cosmic storytelling.
For fans of what-could-have-been cinema and sci-fi aficionados everywhere, Jodorowsky’s Dune is a bittersweet, mind-bending journey into a universe that almost was. It’s a film that paints a picture of a dream unfulfilled but never forgotten. As readers of SFcrowsnest well know, in the realm of science fiction, even the unmade has a way of leaving an indelible mark on the stars.
