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Dune 2018 (19,20,21...)

So Zendaya and some entertainment reporters have seen the trailer, there are supposedly multiple different trailers for different markets (standard US and Intl probably) and Chalamet said it is coming out before September (but didn't specify September of what year :nyah:).

Of course, Villeneuve is also saying he is having difficulties getting the re shoots he needs and editing is running late. Personally, I'd much rather it gets delayed and he has the time to finish properly than rush it out.
 
I'm mildly optimistic that we might at least be able to get some of the November or December movies.
 
If the movie is good and is successful at the box office and with the general audience i fully expect memes and phrases to crop up everywhere - the Litany against Fear, Blessed be the Maker etc. :)

Im finding that increasingly unlikely. Dune is one of those books that’s famous among us nerds but not really known among the general public. I frequently recommend it, and most people have never heard of it. Given how people seem unlikely to visit the cinema these days for movies they aren’t particularly interested in, Dune seems to have one more thing stacked against it. Seems like it was always a big risk, so this is a real shame for everyone involved. I wasn’t planning on seeing it anyway, but I hope it doesn’t fail.
 
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Even if the source material isn't a draw, names like Jason Momoa, Oscar Isaac, Dave Bautista, Javier Bardem, and Denis Villeneuve might be. I've seen the news about it all over the entertainment sites, so there does seem to be a lot of interest.
 
Yeah, but the new Blade Runner had an equally impressive cast and that was sequel to a movie instead of a book, one most people knew as something good even if they hadn’t seen it. Still underperformed. Dune just seems like a very hard sell for general audiences.
 
Yeah, but the new Blade Runner had an equally impressive cast and that was sequel to a movie instead of a book, one most people knew as something good even if they hadn’t seen it. Still underperformed. Dune just seems like a very hard sell for general audiences.

I'm not so sure. The first book has a good mix of action, mythology (even superpowers if you see the Bene Gesserit combat techniques, their genetic memory ability and later on Paul as Kwisatz Haderach), political intrigue and a love story - if this mixes well and the trailers get this across well enough it could be a success.

The later books though are harder to film or get the general audience in as they delve much more into poltics, religion and sociology - something that could still work for people interested in these topics but much harder to sell for an expensive Science Fiction movie.

The wild card is the general audience state of mind - after being deprived of new movies for almost all of 2020 they could be hungry for anything, especially with some big names attached. If however the pandemic is still raging come Christmas all bets are off, the movie may even get delayed like so many others or if by some miracle everything returns to something resembling normal studios may flood the theaters will all the big movies like the new Bond movie and Dune may get caught under the wheels and smashed.
 
I'm not so sure. The first book has a good mix of action, mythology (even superpowers if you see the Bene Gesserit combat techniques, their genetic memory ability and later on Paul as Kwisatz Haderach), political intrigue and a love story - if this mixes well and the trailers get this across well enough it could be a success.

It does have those things, but I think a lot of what you said about the later books also applies to the first. Taken individually all those points about political intrigue and mythology might work, but take all that and put it in a sci-fi setting and I’m just not sure how it appeals to a wider audiences.

I think what we’ll get is something very close to Blade Runner 2049 in terms of quality and box office returns, but I’d be very happy to be wrong.
 
It does have those things, but I think a lot of what you said about the later books also applies to the first. Taken individually all those points about political intrigue and mythology might work, but take all that and put it in a sci-fi setting and I’m just not sure how it appeals to a wider audiences.

I think what we’ll get is something very close to Blade Runner 2049 in terms of quality and box office returns, but I’d be very happy to be wrong.

I can of course be wrong too but one of the main draws for Game of Thrones was the political intrigue (alongside the gore, nudity and action of course), it just needs to be well written.

However with Dune itself i find the political aspects are quite light - House Atreides is very popular in the Landsraad ( basically the ruling council who are presided by the Emperor), thus becoming a political rival to the Emperor who comes up with a plan together with the Atreides' most vicious rival, House Harkonnen, to get rid of them.

They lay a trap for them by having them assume control of Arrakis, attack and wipe out the entire House in one action in the disguise of this being a sanctioned and official action allowed by the rules for House feuds (that the Emperor secretly supplied his elite Sardaukar troops made this possible because otherwise chances were that House Atreides would have kicked the Harkonnens' ass).

Of course Paul and Jessica escape, find shelter with the Fremen who turn out to be even more elite fighters than the Sardaukar. Paul becomes their prophesied leader (you may gloss over the fact that the Bene Gesserit are planting such prophesies into many cultures for future use, it's not that important for the main plot) and leads the Fremen to conquer the whole planet - which has far wider implications because of its unique ressouce which he now completely controls making him even more powerful than the Emperor and the Spacing Guild combined.

So - basic plot explained in 2 paragraphs which i believe is enough for a decent movie story and could be explained well enough through exposition and dialogue without dragging it down and putting people to sleep in their seats.

I guess the first movie may deal mostly with the setup - the plan by the Emperor and Baron Harkonnen, Atreides moving to Arrakis and settling in and as the first movie climax and cliffhanger the surprise attack and Paul and Jessica fleeing into the desert (depending on the cliffhanger it could be the last scene making their fate even more mysterious for non-readers or the final scene could be the Fremen/Stilgar picking them up).

The second movie could be about Paul and Jessica gaining control and become allied with the Fremen, building up the forces and starting the campaign to retake Arrakis including the final assault and political change in the movie climax.
 
I can of course be wrong too but one of the main draws for Game of Thrones was the political intrigue (alongside the gore, nudity and action of course), it just needs to be well written.

Right there is where I think the problem lies. GoT had political intrigue, but it also had a lot of action and multiple storylines with some very compelling characters, and one of the reasons it worked is because it took place in a pretty familiar fantasy world but still felt gritty and realistic, so even people who don't typically like fantasy got into it. I can't see Dune working the same way, especially with a relatively cerebral director.

Don't get me wrong, I love Dune. I just don't think it's really the kind of story likely to capture a wider audience.
 
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Right there is where I think the problem lies. GoT had political intrigue, but it also had a lot of action and multiple storylines with some very compelling characters, and one of the reasons it worked is because it took place in a pretty familiar fantasy world but still felt gritty and realistic, so even people who don't typically like fantasy got into it. I can't see Dune working the same way, especially with a relatively cerebral director.

Don't get me wrong, I love Dune. I just don't think it's really the kind of story likely to capture a wider audience.

Let's wait and see who's right ;):lol:

We both like the material, we both want it to succeed and we both know it's one of those "unfilmable" books but then again there's Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones and a host of other books that were not considered to be adaptable to the screen and it was done (well in my opinion in the cases i have mentioned).

It "just" takes the right team and the right person at the helm to make it happen - it may not be the version you were expecting but if it does well and remains true to the essence so be it.

Now i just want to see the trailer and drool all over the table :D
 
Let's wait and see who's right ;):lol:

Might be a long wait! I guess ultimately I just think it's a little too high concept, but we'll see.

Seems like they are definitely gambling on Dune as the start of a franchise, so could be we'll keep seeing that world pushed even if the movie doesn't succeed quite as well as the studio might wish.
 
They're hoping it will be the next LOTR, which is fair since it's often been called the LOTR of sci fi (although Tolkien himself hates it :nyah:). They're really pushing that angle in the latest interviews/articles.

I'm not gonna get involved in guessing how much of a financial success it will be. It's all up in the air. What will be will be.
 
Don't get me wrong, I love Dune. I just don't think it's really the kind of story likely to capture a wider audience.

I have to agree with you there. Unless they really alter what I think the feel of Dune is, it's not going to appeal to a wider audience.
 
They're hoping it will be the next LOTR, which is fair since it's often been called the LOTR of sci fi (although Tolkien himself hates it :nyah:). They're really pushing that angle in the latest interviews/articles.

I never knew Tolkien hated Dune! Gonna go read up on that a little. I think LOTR sounds like a good comparison at first, but then you look a little deeper and it doesn't feel as relevant to the challenges involved in adapting Dune.

I have to agree with you there. Unless they really alter what I think the feel of Dune is, it's not going to appeal to a wider audience.

How fitting that your profile pic appears to be Roland of Gilead ;)
 
I never knew Tolkien hated Dune! Gonna go read up on that a little. I think LOTR sounds like a good comparison at first, but then you look a little deeper and it doesn't feel as relevant to the challenges involved in adapting Dune.

He published a letter telling people to stop asking him if he'd read Dune/sending him copies. He had, and he didn't like it. Should be pretty easy to google
 
He published a letter telling people to stop asking him if he'd read Dune/sending him copies. He had, and he didn't like it. Should be pretty easy to google

Yeah, just read it. Interesting that he disliked Dune 'with some intensity' while still noting that Herbert was 'working along the same lines' as himself.
 
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