The first trailer for the movie DUNE has dropped and it’s immediately trending on the interweb, indicating that this latest movie adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic 1965 science-fiction novel, has been much awaited. Part of the reason is that Denis Villeneuve, the director of ARRIVAL (2016) and BLADE RUNNER 2049 (2017), has impressed fans with his ability at telling sophisticated, mature science fiction and there is enthusiasm for the idea that his adaptation will deliver a version that matches up to Herbert’s original novel.
DUNE is set in a distant future in a feudal interstellar society ruled by an Empire where planets are controlled by noble houses. Young Paul Atreidesof the House Atreides travels to Arrakis, the planet that his family has been tasked with ruling in order to ensure that its most important resource, a substance called “Melange” continues to be mined and exported. However, this great honour soon proves to be part of a larger scheme to destroy the family. This begins a saga which involves the multitude of powerful Houses, the Old Empire and the Fremen, the mysterious nomadic people of Arrakis.
The new film has a great cast that includes Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Zendaya, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Jason Momoa, Charlotte Rampling and Javier Bardem. Timothée Chalamet plays Paul Atreides. The first novel is a long and complex book and this film tells half of that story.
The book entitled DUNE was the first of six novels written by Frank Herbert. These spawned multipart book prequels, television series and games. The highest profile version of DUNE was David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation that starred Kyle MacLachlan who played Paul Atreides. The ideas of Dune have influenced the Star Wars franchise, the anime film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) and George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy novel series.
And if you’re wondering about the music of the trailer, it’s a new Hans Zimmer arrangement of Pink Floyd’s “Eclipse” from the Dark Side of the Moon album. This is an acknowledgement of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s failed attempt to adapt the novel in the 1970s; the director wanted the band to compose a score for his version.
DUNE is currently set for a staggered release with the UK and US date being 18th December and Australia’s date set for 26th December, 2020.
