The Dune movie is finally out! Here’s what you need to know …

by |December 2, 2021
Dune - Header Banner

The huge new adaptation of Frank Herbert’s essential sci-fi classic, Dune, arrives in Australian cinemas today. This new film will mark the third time the book has been adapted, first in 1984 with David Lynch’s infamous version, and then the Sci-Fi channel did a half decent job with a TV mini series in the early 2000s.

So, you may be wondering, what’s the deal?

What is Dune about?

Dune is set in the far distant future, when humanity has expanded into the stars, and powerful family houses battle for control of resources in a huge empire. The only way to travel between the stars is with the use of navigators, beings who can predict the near future and can therefore accurately calculate the path for a ship to safely cross the light years between planets. What gives navigators these special powers? A resource called “spice”, which exists on only one planet in the known universe, the sandy desert planet of Arrakis, also known as Dune. Think of it as part Star Wars, part Game of Thrones, but bigger than both combined.

Dune movie - Timothee Chalamet and Rebecca Ferguson
Timothee Chalamet and Rebecca Ferguson in Dune (2021).

The Dune books

Now when you look at the Dune books, there are seemingly thousands of them, so let me break it down.

Frank Herbert’s initial run of Dune novels was followed years later by his son Brian and collaborator Kevin J Anderson, who have written a long series of prequels, sequels and spin-offs set in the Dune universe.

The core Dune saga comprises:

Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Chapterhouse: Dune

These were then followed up by two novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, written and published after Frank Herbert’s death, which tie up the main storylines of the core Dune saga:

Hunters of Dune
Sandworms of Dune

Dune movie - The giant sandworm of Arrakis
The giant sandworm of Arrakis, from Dune (2021).

By this time, Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson were already deep in the Dune universe, having written two prequel trilogies:

Prelude to Dune, set immediately before the core Dune saga comprises:

Dune: House Atreides
Dune: House Harkonnen
Dune: House Corrino

And Legends of Dune, set 10,000 years before the core Dune saga comprises:

The Butlerian Jihad
The Machine Crusade
The Battle of Corrin

Obviously, the Dune backstory can seem fairly intimidating and complicated. There’s a lot of lore, thousands of years of history, a huge cast of characters. Happily, you don’t need to delve too deeply into it to get a grounding in it.


Dune is a masterclass in world building, and once you’re a mere 100 pages into the first novel, you have a crystal clear idea of the world, the characters, the stakes, and how everything interrelates.

I’d recommend reading the first book, and if you find that you enjoyed it, the rest of the Frank Herbert novels are worth it, although they get progressively more insane as they go on. The “expanded universe” of Dune novels aren’t for the faint of heart, and are really only for uber fans who can’t get enough.

This new film only covers the first half of Dune, with a second film that covers the second half (and hopefully some of Dune Messiah) due in a couple more years (provided Dune pays off).

P.S. – if you want to really get insane with Dune, I cannot recommend enough a documentary called Jodorowsky’s Dune, which maps out an insane Italian film director’s truly batshit abandoned adaptation of Dune. We are both extremely lucky and extremely unlucky that it never got made!

Dune, directed by Dennis Villeneuve and starring Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Zendaya and Jason Momoa, is in cinemas now.

Duneby Frank Herbert

Dune

Dune: Book 1

by Frank Herbert

Melange, or 'spice', is the most valuable - and rarest - element in the universe. And it can only be found on a single planet: the inhospitable desert world Arrakis. Whoever controls Arrakis controls the spice. And whoever controls the spice controls the universe.

When stewardship of Arrakis is transferred to his house, Paul Atreides must travel to the planet's dangerous surface to ensure the future of his family and his people. But as malevolent forces explode into conflict around him, Paul is thrust into a great destiny beyond his understanding...

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