The Dune saga could eclipse Star Wars. Films, series, video games… SF has a “new” challenger

News culture The Dune saga could eclipse Star Wars. Films, series, video games… SF has a “new” challenger

The literary origins of Dune

Dune is originally two science fiction series written by American writer Frank Herbert and published in Analog magazine in 1963 and 1964, respectively. Published a year later “Dune World” and “Prophet of Dune” resulted in the novel “Dune,” which won the first Nebula Prize for Best Novel in 1966. Five sequels were written by Frank Herbert between 1969 and 1985. After his father’s death in 1986, Brian Herbert continued the family work alongside Kevin J. Anderson. This collaboration resulted in several collections of works: prequel series as well as sequels that complete the original series.

The six original Dune novels by Frank Herbert:

• Dune (1965)
• The Messiah of Dune (1969)
• Children of Dune (1976)
• The God Emperor of Dune (1981)
• The Heretics of Dune (1984)
• Mother’s House (1985)

Check out the novel Dune on Amazon

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Dune, an unadaptable novel?

Denis Villeneuve has achieved a true masterpiece with his film adaptation of “Dune”. Many directors lost their teeth over Frank Herbert’s supposedly unsuitable novel.

“Dune,” directed by David Lynch, was a hell of a development (executive producer Dino De Laurentiis handled the “final cut”) and a box office failure, grossing between $30.9 and $37.9 million at an estimated grossed a budget of $40 to $42 million. The 1984 film “Dune” is considered a cult film by some moviegoers, but 40 years later it is still not unanimously appreciated.

Another project “Dune” acquired the status of a legend of the 7th art because it simply never came to theaters. This first adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel was carefully prepared by Alejandro Jodorowsky between 1973 and 1977 and will ultimately never see the light of day. All that remains of this gigantic project that brought together the most influential artists of the 70s is an excellent documentary and the project bible. As a reminder: This Dune film starred the group Pink Floyd, the actors David Carradine and Orson Welles as well as the designer Jean Giraud aka Moebius (the Incal saga).

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The Dune Movie, Part Three

The Quebec director managed to reach the general public in just two “small” films and popularize one of the richest, but also so strict, science fiction franchises. Dune (2021) and Dune, Part II (2024) are critical successes (83% and 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively) and financial successes ($434.8 million at the box office for the first film, and a great start for the second). And the ending of Dune: Part Two leaves little doubt that a third part will appear in the more or less near future, which will conclude the saga of Paul Atréides.

Denis Villeneuve himself confirmed the start of work on Dune, part three. This feature film adapts the 1969 novel The Messiah of Dune and focuses on the reign of Muad’Dib and the holy war led by his Fremen legions. If the novel begins twelve years after the events recounted in Dune (1965), the film by D. Villeneuve, whose script has just begun, could depict jihad as the cause of 61 billion deaths in images throughout the universe. The Dune franchise has established itself among moviegoers and wants to capitalize on that enthusiasm, even if the Canadian filmmaker is rightly afraid of the second trilogy of novels.

See Dune by Denis Villeneuve on Amazon

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The prequel series Dune: Prophecy

Originally produced by Legendary Television and supervised by Alison Schapker (Altered Carbon – Netflix, Westworld – HBO), “Dune: Prophecy” was originally called “The Sisterhood” and focuses its story on the Bene Gesserit. Set 10,000 years before Denis Villeneuve’s future trilogy, this science fiction series tells of the origins of a political and religious organization made up entirely of women, operating in the shadows of the universe imagined by Frank Herbert.

This HBO original creation follows sisters Valya and Tula Harkonnen as they fight to secure the future of humanity and lay the foundation for a “cult” known as the “Bene Gesserit.” Dune: Prophecy will be released in late 2024 on Max (formerly HBO Max) in the US and Amazon Prime Video via Warner Pass in France.

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The video game Dune Awakening

Shiro Games Studios, on behalf of Funcom, will arrive on Arrakis for the first time in April 2022 before taking control of it in September 2023 with a large-scale real-time strategy and management game (commonly called “4X”). Dune: Spice Wars invites fans of the franchise to take part in the conflict between the Great Houses and dominate spice production and therefore the Empire through both force and diplomacy. During Gamescom 2022, Funcom is taking a closer look at another video game, also signed, that Frank Herbert imagined. As a reminder, the contract signed between the Norwegian company and Legendary Pictures provides for the creation of three video game adaptations: Dune: Spice Wars, Dune Awakening and another unannounced title.

Dune Awakening presents itself as an open-world survival MMO (for massively multiplayer online game) set on the planet Arrakis and beginning eight years after the events of Dune, Part II (or the novel Dune). Players take on the role of former Bene Gesserit prisoners fighting for survival after their prison ship crashes. Between exploration, construction and large-scale conflict for control of the spice, this new adaptation of Dune aims to reveal the secrets and enrich the lore surrounding the most dangerous star in the universe. Dune Awakening will be released on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S at an as yet unknown date.

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Dune vs Star Wars

While “Dune” is a box office hit and proves that the author’s science fiction resonates with the general public, “Star Wars” essentially relies on the existence of Disney+. These two strategies, which are opposites of each other, show a profound change in how SF fans perceive the two universes. In 2024, Star Wars is no longer this flawless science fiction saga that succeeds at everything. On the contrary: Dune is enjoying increasing popularity and is using Denis Villeneuve’s know-how to reach as many people as possible.

Star Wars still has a few steps (and projects) to go, but Dune has the potential to overshadow its main competitor in the long term… at least from an image perspective. Quantity (and sometimes quality) versus quality: The expansions of the Star Wars and Dune universes differ in both substance and form. Star Wars bombards the genre with a plethora of series (Andor, Skeleton Crew, The Acolyte, etc.), films (The Mandalorian & Grogu, etc.), and video games (Outlaws, Eclipse, etc.). Dune relies on surgical interventions: Prophecy, Awakening and the third part of Villeneuve’s trilogy. Dune vs Star Wars: The science fiction war is declared!

Upcoming “Dune” projects:

• Dune: Prophecy – the HBO series (end of 2024)
• Dune Awakening – the Funcom MMO
• Dune, part three – the film by Denis Villeneuve

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