In the sci-fi novel Dune by Frank Herbert, a famous American sci-fi writer, there is a famous saying, “I must not be afraid. Fear kills the ability of thinking. It is a lurking god of death, and it will completely destroy one. People. I want to tolerate it, let it pass through my heart, through my body and mind. When all this is over, I will open my eyes in the depths of my soul and examine its trajectory. Fear is like the wind, and there is no trace of the wind. Only I still stand.” This scene also appeared in the trailer for the upcoming sci-fi blockbuster adaptation of the same name.
56 years after it was first published in 1965, the film adapted from Herbert’s Dune will be released simultaneously in theaters and HBO Max on October 22, but this film, which costs as much as 165 million US dollars, will only cover the first The first half of a novel, the sequel is pending.
“I am in a very embarrassing situation now.” After the premiere of the Venice Film Festival, Villeneuve, director of “Dune”, talked about the film in the media dialogue of the film festival. “I only made half of a film. This is one film. This crazy way of doing things…It’s like drawing half a picture, or listening to half a symphony, and then say, wait, guys, we will continue in two years… But the production costs of these movies are very high, I agree Shooting the first part first is a gamble.”
The ending of the first part of the film will end in the middle of the plot of the original novel. I hope the box office performance is sufficient to justify the start of the second part.
From science fiction to Hollywood
Herbert once said that at first, he was only going to write an article about the sand dunes in Florence, Oregon, for a magazine. However, he gradually became “involved” in the process of studying sand dunes and collecting information. Although this article was not completed later, these also became the turning points for his creation of “Dune”.
The background of “Dune” is set in the distant future. It tells a series of stories triggered by the 15-year-old Paul Atrides’s royal family settled on the unfamiliar sand planet Alakis in order to compete for the spice drug Melange. Arakis is the only planet in the universe that can produce the spice “Melange”. This spice can prolong the consciousness and lifespan of the user, and it is also an addictive anesthetic.
“Sand Dune” integrates politics, religion, ecology, technology and complex conspiracy, social structure and philosophical thinking. It deeply considers the survival and evolution of human beings, and establishes a complete glossary of terms, citations and historical databases, enough to complete The most imaginative world construction.
In 1965, as soon as “Dune” was released, it received unanimous praise from the critics and was hailed as one of the greatest science fiction novels in history. “The position of “Dune” in science fiction literature is just like that of “The Lord of the Rings” in fantasy literature. “, “Apart from “Lord of the Rings”, I don’t know anything that can be compared with it”, and has repeatedly become a bestseller in the science fiction category. It has sold tens of millions of copies around the world and won two of the most famous Science Fiction Award-Nebula Award and Hugo Award.
“Dune” takes the traditional mythological themes of prophecy, prophet, and journey through the unknown as the protagonist, interspersed with narratives about family, power, ecology, and religion, all of which are embodied in a mythical growth process, but its propositions Actually betrayal: your hero is not what you expected.
These elements that attracted Hollywood’s fascination, as well as a large number of metaphysical descriptions of philosophy and religion in the book, and large-scale stream of consciousness descriptions, are the reasons that once prevented it from being put on the big screen.
The failed and successful “Dune”
As early as 1974 to 1977, the famous surrealist Alysandro Zodulowski tried to adapt this book into a movie. He rewrote the story according to his own imagination and made many new settings in the script. The budget once reached 15 million U.S. dollars, far exceeding the 9.5 million U.S. dollars given by the investment method consortium. Until 1977, there was a funding gap of 5 million U.S. dollars. Zodulowski went to Hollywood to try to obtain funding but to no avail, and the project ended in failure.
In 1984, “Dune” filmed by director David Lynch was released. The production cost was as high as US$50 million. It was the largest science fiction film produced by Universal Pictures at the time. Dollars are not enough to pay back.
Lynch himself is not satisfied with his work. Last year, in an interview with the media, he said that the filming of “Dune” was too unsuccessful, and even lingering pain, because he did not have the final editing rights, and the final version of “Dune” was not made. The way you want. Although there are some parts that he likes, as a whole, “Dune” is still a complete failure for Lynch.
Since then, the film and television adaptation of “Dune” has stalled. Until 2000, the “Dune” adaptation of the mini TV series “The Dune” was broadcast on the Syfy Science Fiction Channel in the United States. It was divided into 3 episodes and each episode was about 90 minutes. After the sequel “Sons of the Dune” TV series launched in 2003, it was nominated for three Emmy Awards and won the “Best Visual Effects Award.” The miniseries have reduced the mystery elements and are more action-oriented. It was once one of Syfy’s highest ratings. These two TV series were also known as the best versions of film and television adaptations of “Dune”.
In 2008, Paramount announced that it would restart the film “Dune” project, but the selection of directors failed after many setbacks, and the project stalled. In 2013, Paramount announced the abandonment of the “Dune” film adaptation plan. Then, in 2016, the film and television adaptation rights of “Dune” went to Legendary Pictures, and they found the director Dennis Villeneuve, who was nominated for Oscar.
After Villeneuve finished filming “Blade Runner 2049”, the filming of “Dune” was started, and the former team also turned to “Dune”. In order to make the film truly present the scenes in the novel and allow the audience to “feel” the light, wind and sound on the planet Arakis, Villeneuve chose to perform in the famous Wadi Rum of Jordan and the deep sand dunes of Abu Dhabi. Real scene shooting.
The Villeneuve that the novel initially attracted was the relationship between human beings, the desert and the environment. “The Freemans designed a way of life, a technology that can survive in desert conditions. Frank Herbert is very fascinated by nature and plants, and his love for life means everything. Herb The description of the ecosystem and its logic, as well as the complexity and beauty in it, has its precision and poetry. For me, “Dune” is a tribute to the ecosystem and life. At that time, it deeply Impressed me.”
Fortunately, in the current film screenings, full film screenings, and film festival premieres, “Dune” has received a lot of praise. Now facing the public, Villeneuve said that the team gave all their passion to the film, “If it succeeds, of course there will be a second one.”
In a conversation with Wired magazine, Villeneuve once said that the first film actually tells a story about a boy who lost his fantasy of the world. In the beginning, he was just a wounded boy who was sent to a cruel new planet. He tried to understand what happened to his family and people in the new world, and how politics was corrupt.
“We will follow him on this journey. It is important to make sure that we are telling the journey of humans, not the journey of a superhero. This is a very important difference.” But if there is a sequel, the audience will see this The boy shows his “full potential” as a leader.
Difficulties in sci-fi adaptation
Similar to the film development process of “Dune”, although news of the domestic sci-fi IP “Three-Body” film adaptation only came out in 2010, it has experienced many twists and turns, and has always been high hopes.
First, when the novel was not yet popular, Liu Cixin sold the film and television adaptation rights to Zhang Fanfan and Song Chunyu and his wife, who were not well-known in the industry, at a price of 100,000 yuan. “Baixing Club”, to solve copyright issues, set up an operating team “Three Body Universe” to start game development, distribution, adaptation and derivative development, and then to “Three Body Universe” and Youzu Group and Netflix announced that they would jointly develop and produce “Three-Body” English series…The film and television adaptation of “Three-Body” seems to be on the right track. But it has long been full of human complexity and gloom, which is especially reflected in the death of Lynch, the chairman of Youzu Networks, who was poisoned.
In August of this year, Netflix announced that the first director of the drama “Three-Body” was selected as Zeng Guoxiang. He will direct the first episode of “Three-Body”, which will set the tone for the whole show and will serve as the co-producer of the show. Zeng Guoxiang previously directed “You are a young man”, which was nominated for the Oscar for Best International Film, but the original work has been controversial. The other two creators of the drama version, David Benioff and DBWeiss, made the film. The end of “Game of Thrones” has been questioned.
For the adaptation of Netflix, domestic audiences do not seem to be optimistic. After all, the understanding of a large number of languages and situations in “Three Body” requires a deep enough understanding of China’s national conditions to achieve.
And Liu Cixin said earlier when answering the question of why the Three-Body body could not be handed over to Hollywood for shooting. The background and story of Hollywood science fiction films can be very complicated and tortuous, but the theme must not be complicated and must be black and white. This most fundamental principle is violated, and it is difficult to say clearly in one sentence, and the mainstream values of Hollywood movies must conform to the mainstream values of the masses, and this “Three-Body” is also violated, especially the human civilization in “Three-Body”. Destructive way of salvation.
Both “Three Body” and “Dune” have built a huge worldview system in the book, presenting a complex and deep human nature. The text can give people a rich imagination, while the actual scenes presented by the movie are relatively limited. From novels to movies, in the process of converting text language to lens language, the imagination space is bound to be lost. This is also one of the difficulties faced by the film and television adaptation of science fiction.
And “2001: A Space Odyssey”, which is known as “a milestone in modern science fiction film technology“, although it is also said that the film was adapted from a novel by science fiction novelist Arthur Clark, but in fact, the script was written by Kubrick and Clark is original, but part of the plot in the movie comes from Arthur Clark’s novel. Compared with novel adaptations, original scripts have a broader space for development.
On October 22, “Dune” is about to be released. This film, which cost as much as 165 million US dollars, will finally be scrutinized by the general public and the global market.Return to Sohu to see more
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