Noonan

I always assumed this would underperform regardless of the pandemic. Fans will appreciate it (like myself) but I never saw this connecting with mass audience who aren't aware of the source material.

Mike86

I sort of agree. It feels like a heavy sci-fi film, and in general those don’t do well. It also seems like a film that’s going to require sequels to tell its story, and I doubt that will happen if it’s a box office disaster.

My guess is it’ll be well reviewed and loved fans though.

TomOpus

Yeah it sucks when a director is handcuffed by a limited budget. Until some movies bust out big BO, it might become standard to keep budgets in tow.

Runaway

I wouldn't mind more movies like Prisoners or Sicario. With his big budget movies he chose the hard way. He's not making Marvel, DC or Star Wars, he chose difficult IPs. It's the audiences who aren't that open to those movies, which is a damn shame.

Kurt D

Couple that with fans (such as myself) who will wait to see it as a rental or something for ... reasons. I just don't have faith that it will translate effectively. I bet there are plenty of skeptical fans, so that leaves only the diehards. The real mystery is why the project got greenlit in the first place.

milo bloom

It's a great story. No mystery there.

Is it an easily adaptable story for the mass audience? Eh, not really. And it really does make me pessimistic that we'll get the second half made. I really can't understand why they wouldn't make it all at once like they did Lord of the Rings.

Even if it doesn't get finished, I can still see myself buying this on 4K to watch this great cast mucking about in the desert for 2.5 hours because it looks so good.

Noonan

Movies are made to make money, not tell great stories. Which means someone thought this film would bring in enough money to be considered a success.

Kurt D

Also, if I recall correctly, it took many years before the first book actually caught on. No mistake, I love it, and its sequels (at least those solely written by Frank) but I'm not sure it's that great of a story, more like an acquired taste!

ETA I will totally buy it in 4k.

Runaway

The book isn't the screenplay. The goal is to take those parts of the book that work and adapt those to the screen, so I don't really get the unfilmable notion. That being said you can have a masterpiece like the Lord of the Rings or butcher it like The Dark Tower. Villeneuve is a great director, so I do believe he is able to make a movie that tells the story of Dune, while appealing to a mass audience. I never thought it could be a billion dollar movie, but I also never thought it's a just for hardcore fans.
Readers are only a small percentage of the movie going audience, it helps to be a bestseller, but the success of a movie lies on the people who didn't read the books or comics. Hardly anybody reads comics but everybody watched comic book adaptations, which also only take bits of the source material and work just fine.

Kurt D

If you say so!

But the story is what was brought up, which is a story full of murky politics, religiosity, and perceptions based on interiority.

Not exactly kibble for the average sci-fi crowd these days, who just want cool giant worms and fights.

Giantrobo

I often feel like once someone or some fanbase throws out, "Unfilmable" when it comes to certain works, it's like they set up a mindset that is self fulfilling. Like no matter how good something filmed is, they will always not give it a fair chance or even admit it was better than they thought it would be. I see them come in already thinking "its gonna suck!!".

Kurt D

I believe this only applies if that fan or fanbase actually tried filming it themselves, only then would their prophecy be fulfilled, just like Leto II's prophecy was fulfilled. When you see everything, it gets tricky.

Runaway

Unfilmable to me is a term when special effects used to suck.

Dr. DVD

I beg to differ. In the time since it's release it, like it's predecessor, has found a fanbase amongst the populace, albeit a small one. Granted, a lot of them are the same ones who discovered the original late in life like I did, but I wouldn't call it a disappointment storywise. Ford was sleepwalking though, like most of his stuff nowadays.

Dr. DVD

I remember back in 2001 we had a thread called "Who Thinks LOTR Will Flop?" Needless to say, it didn't and the thread was closed. I think this is a different case, but one does have to ask the question: if LOTR were made today would it be able to catch on like it did back in 2001? This may sound nuts, but I think a lot of the success of the first LOTR movie could be attributed to the aftermath of 9/11 and audiences craving pure escapism with clear cut bad guys and good guys in their stories. One could argue we need escapism now more than ever , but unlike then, the threat wasn't something that one could encounter by simply breathing the air in a room.

Runaway

I don't think 9/11 had anything to do with the success of Lord of the Rings, since its success was a worldwide phenomenon, including book sales going through the roof.

E Unit

I also think there's a line on how popular "fantasy" and "sci-fi" movies are perceived and received by audiences. Sci-fi movies are more often a harder sell than fantasy ones.

Why So Blu?

It's gotta be accessible to the general movie-going audience and the budget has to be lower otherwise we're looking at another Blade Runner 2049. It'll be a great looking art film that will bomb. Arrival cost 47 million and made a lot of money. There's all these variables that need to be taken into consideration before being made -- the same reason(s) why The Suicide Squad bombed. The new variable, of course, being the pandemic. Just remember that BR2049 was a couple of years ago.

Mike86

I’m not familiar with the books, but part of me also wonders if something like this would have been better served as a series on HBO or something versus a movie. Sounds like it’s king of a long, drawn out story that will need more than one installment. I get the desire for the spectacle of a film, but modern shows have shown they can still do a lot too.

milo bloom

The Sisterhood of Dune will be a series, coming to HBOMax
https://www.inverse.com/entertainmen...20Dune%20canon.

It will take the time to explore the history of the Bene Gesserit, but main Dune novel is absolutely cinema worthy, I think the studio just needs to go into with the understanding it won't be a theatrical blockbuster but will have a longtail on home video and streaming.

Dr. DVD

Blade Runner 2049 was in 2017; four years ago. Who taught you math?

In all honesty, what are the options at this point? Delay it inevitably until the pandemic is over? Personally, I too agree that this should have been an HBO series like Game of Thrones. It's just too expansive to be confined to a movie or two. Maybe if this does well enough on streaming they'll greenlight a follow up as a series along with the other books ratings pending.

Kurt D

I decided to vote "it will surprise everyone and be a big hit" since the gross is currently 220 million.

I kid because I love.

And I'm petty.

dex14

at this thread and those number options (in retrospective).

milo bloom

Ah, looks like my comment about streaming was closer to the mark than even I thought. Part 2 has been given the greenlight.

GoldenJCJ

I predict that it will bomb so bad that Part 2 won’t get greenlighted.

Timothee Chalamet will spend the rest of his days shamefully running around the sidewalks of Hollywood Blvd. wearing his Fremen costume alongside the guys dressed as Spider-Man and Elmo.