User blog:ARTaylor/35 Years of Dune

Today is the thirty-fifth anniversary of the premiere of Dune. Based on the famed 1965 novel, the film follows a war for control of a distant planet that is the only known source of a substance that allows people to see the future and is vital to space travel.

Since the book became a best seller, numerous attempts at a movie adaptation were made without success, passing between numerous directors and production companies. The film eventually came to famed director David Lynch. However, studio interference caused the production to face numerous troubles. Control was taken away from Lynch who subsequently disowned the film, removed his name from the production, and still refuses to discuss it.

The film was accompanied by a massive promotional campaign based on the popularity of the novel and previous success of Lynch. Despite this, the film was a massive critical and financial failure. Even though it was the eleventh highest grossing film of the year, it failed to make back its enormous budget. It even failed to top the opening weekend box office. At the time of release, reviews were largely negative among film critics and fans of the book. Critics felt the story only made sense to those who read the book while book fans felt it failed to capture the book. However, writer and critic Harlan Ellison gave the film a rare positive review. The poor reception cancelled any attempts to develop the other books as sequels. Most cast and crew who were not able to take part in the film later expressed pleasure at not being involved. Though it should be noted that the cast and crew were able to move onto greater successes so at least it was not a career death sentence. Today, the film has developed a small cult following, who note that many of Lynch's films are difficult to understand. The film was remade as a television miniseries while a theatrical remake is due next year.

The film features the talents of Virginia Madsen as Princess Irulan.