Fandom In Context: Much A-Dune About Nothing

Movies can do anything these days. Thanks to a collection of ones and zeroes, any and all whims of fantasy and science fiction writers can be a reality. It's allowed filmmakers to go to the edge of the space, the core of Middle Earth and make Thanos a household name. The idea of the unfilmable book is dead. Well, unless that book is Dune.

One of the densest and most complicated science fiction series of the 20th century, Frank Herbert's Dune isn't simply visually complex. Even summarizing Dune is difficult. Set thousands of years in the future on the planet Arrakis (also known as "Dune"), the book follows Paul Atreides as he attempts to free the planet's enslaved people and secure the its supply of melange, or "spice," a life-extending drug that enhances mental abilities. The book is a meditative journey into fear, fascism and human connection to the natural world. It's filled with strange, distant lands and gigantic fear-sensing worms. But it is also filled with intergalactic politicking, long patient stares and a stream of telepathic conversations and internal monologues, which is not the type of thing CGI can spice up.

Dune isn't something fans take lightly either. For some, Dune is a lifelong love affair. Kylara, a manager on Fandom.com's Dune wiki, says her father used to read her Dune as a bedtime story. "I like to joke that other kids got read See Spot Run, and I got read Dune," she wrote via Discord. "I didn't fully understand it at that age, of course, but those were some of my favorite memories." The newest attempt at a film adaptation of Dune, with a decades-old fandom and several botched movie and TV versions, has a lot to live up to.

Denis Villeneuve, the reigning king of dusty, quiet science fiction, who earned an Oscar nomination for Arrival and fan approval with Blade Runner 2049, is directing this latest attempt at the unfilmable Dune. A two-part epic, 2020's Dune has an all-star cast, featuring Timotheé Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac and Josh Brolin, and a reported price tag of $175 million. That's some serious cheddar, or as they would say in Dune, "solari." (Yes, of course, Dune includes a complicated series of currencies.) But even with all that star power, can Villeneuve do the impossible and make an adequate adaptation that pleases fans?

Unfilmable movies aren't a thing anymore, and they haven't been for a while. In 2001, Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema did the unthinkable by turning out a stunning masterpiece: The Lord of the Rings. Now considered a classic, at the time, fans feared that Jackson would screw it up. Known for a couple of beloved, low-budget cult classics, no one thought of him as the special effects epic maker of today. (Though, if the Peter Jackson of today decided to make Lord of the Rings, fans would probably be even more worried.) But in the late 90s, fans were concerned. Would it be long enough? What would get cut? One of the biggest controversies regarded the elven princess Arwen, played by Liv Tyler, who appeared battle-ready in several onset photos. Arwen does not do this in the books. In fact, she doesn't do much the books, so to have her appear in crucial battles would be a big no-no to purists. Rumors regarding Arwen's role in the film grew so big that Sir Ian McKellen responded to them on his personal website.

"There has been a very nasty rumor that the character of Arwen (Liv Tyler) will accompany the other characters on the quest. Is this true, somewhat true or not true at all? A "spy" had noticed filming at the Door of Moria about to begin. He/she had walked away by the time filming actually began, but did overhear a woman's voice screaming. This was assumed to be Arwen (Liv Tyler).

A: The "spy" is incompetent if he/she ever existed. There were no women at the doors of Moria and no screaming.

And to put an end to it – Arwen does NOT accompany the Fellowship in the movie."

Despite any pre-release rumor-mongering, when the movies came out, they earned billions, racked up awards, set a new standard for what was possible on screen.

Dune's history with film adaptations is fraught. Back in 1984, David Lynch, then just starting his run as one of the most original and experimental directors in Hollywood, released what he considers his biggest failure: a two-hour adaptation of Dune. Now something of cult-curio, Dune is not without its problems. There's not much time to adjust to Lynch's film. The bones are there, but everything is over-explained and under-explained, excluding anyone not on its wavelength. In Chris Rodley's Lynch on Lynch, the normally esoteric director says of adapting Dune:

I had a lot of talks with the author, Frank Herbert, concentrating every line in the book. There are so many things in it that seem to contradict themselves as you get into it. And there's so many confusing things in it. Many strange bits of information, technology, and mythology. And it's like -- where's the story, you know? The more you get into it, the more it's hard to hold on to.

If the director of Eraserhead thinks this thing is too confusing, what hope is there for the rest of us?

Fans have a dysfunctional relationship with the movie. While Lynch's visuals earned high marks, it's not anyone's preferred version. "The 1984 movie is something of a beloved disaster," says Kylara. "I liked it when I was little, before I realized it wasn't very good, so it still holds an important place for me." Other movie attempts at the novel were taken. In 2000, the SciFi channel (now SyFy) released a three-part miniseries of the story, which somehow features more dated special effects than Lynch's version. Though few remember it today, the series was successful enough to spawn a sequel, 2003's Children of Dune. But, as franchise filmmaking became a billion-dollar industry in the early 2000s, with the release of Lord of the Rings, the Star Wars prequels and the birth of the modern superhero film, Dune was left behind.

The myth of the unfilmable Dune grew so large that whole documentaries about unmade versions of the story came out before a proper adaptation. Jodorowski's Dune chronicles the nearly made adaptation by another iconoclastic director, Alejandro Jodorowski, before it went to Lynch. His trippier-than-a-gallon-of-LSD version might've been too out there for even the biggest Dune fans. Until this week, fans felt they would never see a proper live-action version of the film.

Dune fans are nothing if not patient. Blue_Three, a mod on /r/dune and the Dune Discord server, says that the miniseries was his first exposure to Dune. He eventually made his way to Reddit three-and-a-half years ago because he "felt that Dune, as a fandom, was somewhat underrepresented" compared to other, bigger franchises. "I simply wanted to help get 'things going' a little more," he says. He got his wish. In the past week, thanks to the trailer's release, the subreddit gained more than 12,000 subscribers, a 24% increase, making it the fastest-growing subreddit on Wednesday. "As mods, yes, we were absolutely expecting a big spike in activity," he says. "We're hyped ourselves, sure. But what we've been experiencing since the trailer drop is something else. The level of excitement for the movie has definitely increased." On the Fandom.com wiki, numbers are also up. "There definitely seems to be more interest," says Kylara. "The wiki's page views increased dramatically after the trailer dropped."

Dune fandom is ready to grow. With good buzz from the trailer, the time for Dune to reach Lord of the Rings levels of hype is upon us. Three_Blue says the Discord and subreddit are "firing on all cylinders." "There's a bunch of things we do to keep the community invested. We're about to start a weekly read-along of the original novel on the Discord," he says. "Now is the best time to be a Dune fan, new or old."

Dune (2020) vs. Dune (1984) 🎥 #ShotForShot #DuneMovie pic.twitter.com/eOhGZ11HG2

— IMDb (@IMDb) September 10, 2020

Despite past problems, fans of Dune hope the third time's the charm for a live-action Dune. The trailer of Villenue's adaptation has everyone abuzz. "What we've seen is very promising," says Three_Blue. "The people involved in the movie's production have been pretty vocal about being passionate about this project, so it's pretty damn assuring for us fans."

Will Denis Villenvue's Dune break the curse? Will Dune fans finally have an adaptation that they can be proud of? Will Dune even come out amid the coronavirus pandemic? All these questions will be answered this December. Until then, fans, like Blue_Three, remain patient.

"We're dealing with a novel that (arguably) up until now hasn't been adapted all that faithfully to any other medium. So I would say we're all just as enthusiastic about it as the people behind the actual production."