Frank Herbert's Dune

This article is about the TV miniseries. For the video game of the same name, see Frank Herbert's Dune (video game).

Frank Herbert's Dune
Written by	Frank Herbert (novel) John Harrison
Directed by	John Harrison
Starring	William Hurt Alec Newman Saskia Reeves Ian McNeice Julie Cox Giancarlo Giannini
Language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Richard P. Rubinstein Mitchell Galin
Cinematography	Vittorio Storaro
Running time	265 min. 295 min. (Director's cut)
Chronology
Followed by	Frank Herbert's Children of Dune

Frank Herbert's Dune is a three-part miniseries written and directed by John Harrison and based on Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune.

The series was produced by New Amsterdam Entertainment, Blixa Film Produktion and Hallmark Entertainment Distribution. It was first broadcast in the United States on December 3, 2000 on the Sci Fi Channel, just two months after what would have been Herbert's 80th birthday. It was later released on DVD in 2001, with a director's cut appearing in 2002.

A 2003 sequel miniseries called Frank Herbert's Children of Dune continued the story, adapting the second and third novels in the series (1969's Dune Messiah and its 1976 sequel Children of Dune). As of 2004, both miniseries were two of the three highest-rated programs ever to be broadcast on the Sci Fi Channel.^[1]

Frank Herbert's Dune won two Emmy Awards in 2001 for Cinematography and Visual effects in a miniseries/movie, as well as being nominated for a third Emmy for Sound editing. The series was also praised by several critics, including Kim Newman.^[2]

The miniseries was shot in Univisium (2.00:1) aspect ratio, although it was broadcast in 1.78:1.

Main cast

Actor	Role
William Hurt	Duke Leto Atreides
Alec Newman	Paul Atreides/Muad'Dib
Saskia Reeves[3]	Lady Jessica
James Watson	Duncan Idaho
Jan Vlasák	Thufir Hawat
P.H. Moriarty	Gurney Halleck
Robert Russell	Dr. Wellington Yueh
Laura Burton	Alia Atreides
Ian McNeice	Baron Vladimir Harkonnen
Matt Keeslar	Feyd-Rautha
László I. Kish	Glossu Rabban
Jan Unger	Piter De Vries
Giancarlo Giannini	Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV
Julie Cox	Princess Irulan
Miroslav Táborský	Count Hasimir Fenring
Uwe Ochsenknecht	Stilgar
Barbora Kodetová	Chani
Jakob Schwarz	Otheym
Karel Dobrý	Liet-Kynes
Christopher Lee Brown	Jamis
Jaroslava Šiktancová	Shadout Mapes
Zuzana Geislerová	Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam

Adaptation

Director John Harrison has described his film adaptation as a "faithful interpretation"^[4] in which any changes he made served to suggest what Herbert had explained subtly or not at all. The miniseries introduces elements not found in Herbert's novel, but according to the director, these serve to elaborate rather than to edit.

Herbert's novel begins with lead character Paul Atreides being 15 years old and aging to 18 over the course of the story. Harrison aged the character to adulthood in order to increase the quality of the acting for this crucial role.^[5]

The miniseries invents an extensive subplot for Princess Irulan, a character who plays little part in the plot of the first novel. Harrison felt the need to expand Irulan's role because she played such an important part in later books, and epigraphs from her later writings opened each chapter of Dune.^[6] Additionally, the character gave him a window into House Corrino.^[4] Besides the final scene, the only one of Irulan's appearances based on an actual excerpt from the novel is her visit to Feyd-Rautha. However, in the book it is a different Bene Gesserit, Margot Fenring, who visits the Harkonnen heir, on assignment from the Bene Gesserit to "preserve the bloodline" by retrieving his genetic material (through conception) for their breeding program. The miniseries does not suggest this as Irulan's motive.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack album for the miniseries was released by GNP Crescendo Records on December 3, 2000. It contains 27 tracks composed by Graeme Revell and performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.^[7]

References

1. ^ Ascher, Ian (2004). "Kevin J. Anderson Interview". DigitalWebbing.com (Internet Archive). Archived from the original on July 3, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070703213605/http://www.digitalwebbing.com/interviews/042104_anderson.html. Retrieved July 3, 2007. 
2. ^ See Science Fiction/Horror by Kim Newman, BFI Publishing, 2002.
3. ^ Harrison has stated in interviews that actress Alice Krige was his first choice to play Jessica, but she was unavailable and Reeves won the role. Krige would later play the role in the sequel miniseries when Reeves was unavailable.
4. ^ ^{a b} Fritz, Steve (December 04, 2000). "DUNE: Remaking the Classic Novel". Cinescape.com. http://www.cinescape.com/0/editorial.asp?aff_id=0&this_cat=Television&action=page&type_id=&cat_id=&obj_id=26343. Retrieved March 14, 2010. 
5. ^ "Ask John Harrison". SciFi.com (Internet Archive). 2000. Archived from the original on July 2, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080702220320/http://www.scifi.com/dune_2k/ask6.html. Retrieved July 2, 2008. 
6. ^ Julie Cox's narration at the beginning and end of the miniseries reflects Irulan's later role as historian of the Atreides empire, illustrated by Herbert through epigraphs.
7. ^ http://www.duneinfo.com/cd/cd_tv.asp

External links

• Frank Herbert's Dune at the Internet Movie Database
• Frank Herbert's Dune at AllRovi
• Frank Herbert's Dune at Rotten Tomatoes
• Official Dune novels website