"All My Fault": Dune Director Shares Principal Regret For 1984 Sci-Fi
David Lynch talks about his one main regret about Dune from 1984. Lynch's Dune, based on Frank Herbert's 1965 book, had Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides, following the young lord's struggle against the wicked Harkonnens on the planet Arrakis. The Movie was notably polarizing, receiving mostly negative reviews from reviewers and failed to generate any kind of box office impact.
Lynch muses over his experience creating Dune in an interview recently with Rachel Martin for NPR's Wild Card series. When asked about the failure he most learnt from during his career, the director promptly brings up his problematic 1984 adaption and notes that one of his main Regrets with the Movie is not advocating final edit. See Lynch's complete response down below:
The Dune Explorer's Failure: 1984
Herbert's Dune has long been seen as unadaptable, and Lynch's version's reception is largely responsible for this. Critics pounced on the movie, and its Rotten Tomatoes score is a dismal 37%. Though opinions range, most agree that Lynch's version lacks the grandiosity or epic grandeur of Herbert's plot, unlike Denis Villeneuve's praised Dune films.
Villeneuve is now in work on Dune: Part Three following the popularity of his first two Movies. Herbert's Dune's more reasonable 65% Rotten Tomatoes audience score indicates that overall moviegoers loved the movie better. Though Rotten Tomatoes wasn't around at the time the movie was released, meaning, unlike the critics' score, which considers reviews written in 1984, the audience score will have come from viewers seeing the film sometime following the website's founding in 1998.
David Lynch's Dune: A View Back at the 1984 Adaptation
"Dune, my movie. I knew already one should have final cut before committing to do a film. For some reason, though, I assumed everything would be fine and omitted including final cut from my contract. Since I had no last say, Dune proved to be not the movie I intended to create.That's a lesson I knew even then, but nowadays there's no way. Why would someone labor three years on something not rightfully theirs? What then? Why would that? What then? I passed out. And that was entirely my fault for not realizing to include that in the agreement."
At least at the moment, audiences were not really relating to Lynch's Dune, and the movie was a clear box office flop. Made on a roughly $45 million budget, the science fiction movie barely made $30.9 million worldwide. Lynch's final cut is unknown if it would have significantly changed 1984's Dune, although it is obvious the director regrets certain major decisions concerning the movie. Director David Lynch will never go back over his 1984 Dune picture, even with ongoing interest in the movie. The following explains the lack of a director's cut.
Regret: Common Theme in Filmmaking by David Lynch
David Lynch's Dune experience offers filmmakers a sobering lesson. Hollywood's frequent topic is the value of having final cut, and Lynch's sorrow emphasizes the need of preserving one's artistic vision. A director runs the danger of losing control over their project without final edit.
Often rife with concessions, the film business forces directors to make decisions they disagree with. Having final cut, however, helps directors to keep vision under control. It's a great instrument for making sure a movie captures the director's original vision and realizes its best possibilities. Lynch's remorse reminds us of the need of protecting one's artistic vision even under the demands of the movie business.
Dune: An Interpretive Guide for Prophecy and Destiny
House Atreides suffers treachery on the desert planet Arrakis in a far future governed by intrigue, power, and the sought-after spice melange. Under the direction of young Paul Atreides, they form a coalition with the Fremen people in readiness for a confrontation with their adversaries. Paul finds his remarkable powers and launches a bold uprising against the Emperor and his army as his fate is being written. Paul becomes a transforming agent among the shifting sands of Arrakis in an epic story of survival and prophesy.
For decades readers and viewers have been enthralled with the ageless masterpiece Dune. The book and its variations have looked at issues of politics, power, and the human condition. The ageless character of Frank Herbert's vision and its potency help to explain the ongoing attraction of the story. Audiences now still find great resonance in Dune, which inspires next generations of fans with its intriguing narrative, nuanced characters, and breathtaking images.
