Top image: Still, ‘Dune’ (1984) dir. David Lynch

Legendary Entertainment has acquired the rights to Frank Herbert’s Dune having reached an agreement which includes both the film and television motion picture rights to the classic 1965 sci-fi novel (via Empire).

With its sprawling plot and trippy sci-fi backdrop, Herbert’s saga of a dark future where royal houses war for control of the desert planet Arrakis and its precious resource, the spice melange, has previously proved a difficult beast to tame for the big screen. In 1974, legendary filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky famously tried to adapt the classic sci-fi novel Dune into a major motion picture, yet sadly it turned into cinema’s biggest ‘if only’.

Having recruited a killer cast including Orson Welles, Pink Floyd, H. R. Giger, Salvador Dali, and Mick Jagger to the project, the Chilean filmmaker then spent millions of dollars preparing for production and assembled a vast series of books containing every storyboard, ship design, and piece of art. Sadly investors weren’t brave enough to take a punt on the project (which was set to be a 10 hours plus epic) and it was ultimately shelved.

Almost a decade later, David Lynch took the mantle and created his 1984 adaptation. Starring Kyle MacLachlan, Sting and Patrick Stewart, Lynch’s film was met with near-unanimous derision and badly flopped, although it later became a cult classic (much in the same way as Tommy Wiseau’s The Room). Film critic Janet Maslin opened her New York Times review by stating, “Several of the characters in Dune are psychic, which puts them in the unique position of being able to understand what goes on in the movie.” Ouch.

With a potential new Dune on the cards – film or TV series – it’ll be interesting to see who bravely take the reins on cinema’s biggest challenge.