Legendary Pictures and Denis Villeneuve had a lot of pressure to “get it right” when it came to their reboot of Frank Herbert’s “Dune.” The adaptation even got the blessing of Brian Herbert (son of Frank).
Inevitably, there were lots of comparisons to David Lynch's lackluster 1984 version. Lynch's "Dune" is well-known to be one of the worst flops in Hollywood history and the director’s worst movie. It's practically unwatchable. I don't think I've ever been able to sit through its entire 137 minutes. I've tried, because I’m a Lynch completist, but good God is it bad.
Widely panned at the time, Lynch lost total creative control on the project, so much so that he asked the studio to remove his name from it entirely, sadly, his wish wasn’t granted.
In a new interview with Cahiers du Cinema, Lynch admits that he’s still bitter about his experience making “Dune” and that he has no interest in catching Villeneuve’s version:
“I will never watch it, and I don't even want you to tell me about it, ever.”
Let’s not be confused here. I don't believe Lynch is knocking Villeneuve's ”Dune”. I think his ’Dune’ experience is still a very sore spot for him, and he doesn't want to be reminded of it. The moral of the story is that people should just stop mentioning “Dune” to David Lynch.
A few years ago, Lynch did look back on the botched adaptation during a Q&A video on YouTube:
“I’m proud of everything except ‘Dune,'” Lynch answered. “I’ve liked so much working on different movies. It’s not so much about pride but the enjoyment of doing, the enjoyment of the work. I’ve enjoyed working in all these different mediums. I feel really lucky to have been able to enjoy those things and to be able to live.”
Lynch referred to his 1984 “Dune” adaptation as a “gigantic sadness in [his] life” because of the lack of creative freedom he received from the studio during the film, including being given a tepid budget to work with. During an interview in April Lynch said he had “zero interest” in seeing Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming new “Dune” adaptation because it will bring back too many painful memories.
Villeneuve himself told Empire, in a 2020 interview, that he is not too keen on Lynch’s adaptation:
“I’m a big David Lynch fan, he’s the master,” Villeneuve said. “When I saw [Lynch]’s ‘Dune’ I remember being excited, but his take… there are parts that I love and other elements that I am less comfortable with. So it’s like, I remember being half-satisfied. That’s why I was thinking to myself, ‘There’s still a movie that needs to be made about that book, just a different sensibility.’”
Warner Bros. is currently set to open Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part II” in theaters on November 3rd.
You don't see this every day: a major filmmaker, mid-release, admitting he's just not very good at his job. That’s exactly what Aaron Sorkin has done as “The Social Reckoning” dies a slow death in theaters.