https://www.themarysue.com/rare-book-jodorowskys-dune-auction-incal-taika-waititi/
While Frank Herbert wrote the Dune series, every director that has taken on the project to some degree has had their name attached to the story and its history. For example, in the 1980s there was David Lynch’s Dune (so panned, the director disowned it). In 2021 we experienced Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One.
Before Villeneuve and Lynch, there was another man whose attempt is so infamous that an entire documentary was made out of his vision and (kinda) failure. I’m talking about Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Dune.
One of the very few copies of the storybook detailing Jodorowsky’s Dune is set to go up for auction at Christie’s later this month. Christie’s estimates the book’s worth at about $28,000 – 40,000. This is before accounting for the 25% buyer’s premium to pay for shipping, taxes, processing fees, and more. That’s a whole lot for a book.
For one, the rarity. Christie’s (a major art dealer company) claims there are 20 or fewer copies in existence. Between Jodorowsky and Lynch’s attempts, for a long time, Dune was dubbed an impossible book to adapt for film. That is until this year’s movie, which has had mostly positive (but not without valid critiques) of Villeneuve’s adaptation, which primarily focuses on the beginning of the original book’s story.
While Jodorowsky’s Dune never happened, the mounting amount of art and creativity from those involved made a lasting impact on science fiction and its subgenres in Hollywood forever. Yes, it is fascinating to know Pink Floyd was attached to the project, as well as a cast that included Salvador Dalí, Mick Jagger, Orson Welles, and more. But the behind-the-scenes talent is one of the reasons the never-made film remains hugely relevant to film history.
Artists like Christopher Foss, Jean Giraud-Moebius, and H.R. Giger worked on the visual elements of Jodorowsky’s Dune that would never come to fruition (at least in a Dune movie). Later, they found success in franchises such as Star Wars, Aliens, and more, sometimes using similar frames and designs.
From the pages shared and animated in the 2014 documentary, Jodorowsky’s Dune alone, this storybook is a treasure trove of information. The plans for costumes, scenes, camera direction, set design, ship design, and much more—all are in this book.
The first many heard of the book (myself included) is when Jodorowsky shared in the 2014 documentary.
Another fascinating element of this whole saga was the fact that (as the trailer shows) Jodorowsky never read Dune, but adored it conceptually. He also had some sort of a working relationship with Herbert during pre-production, where millions were spent, until the studio eventually nixed the project and later sold it. Jodorowsky loved the story (his development of it, at least) so much he wanted to put together a 14-hour science fiction event. Once you go over 4 hours, we have to call it “an event” at that point.
(Image: Humanoids, Inc.)
Even though it seems like Jodorowsky at times is frustrated that his efforts aren’t as well known, he doesn’t seem to harbor any ill will with the creatives that continue to work beyond Dune. For example, over a decade later he released the graphic novel The Incal with Moebius. The graphic novel takes visual and story elements from Jodorowsky’s Dune that I guess were never used because that would put them in a copyright situation possibly? In a way, The Incal may be the closest we can get to the storybook up for auction at Christie’s because it features two of its prominent creatives.
The Incal made news a few days back because it too is getting adapted. This time by none other than our New Zealand fave Taika Waititi. Jodorowsky is calling it “Waititi’s Incal.”
Please, please, if you are reading this, upload a PDF of this book online or donate it to an institution that can navigate opening it to the public. Consider it a gift to science fiction nerds, film historians, archivists, and artists. I’m not sure if what I’m asking for is even legal, but it definitely sounds like a tax write-off. Think of your fellow Dune fans!
(via Gizmodo, image: screenshot from trailer.)
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—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
The post Rare Book Outlining Plans From Jodorowsky’s Dune To Go Up For Auction first appeared on The Mary Sue.
While Frank Herbert wrote the Dune series, every director that has taken on the project to some degree has had their name attached to the story and its history. For example, in the 1980s there was David Lynch’s Dune (so panned, the director disowned it). In 2021 we experienced Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One.
Before Villeneuve and Lynch, there was another man whose attempt is so infamous that an entire documentary was made out of his vision and (kinda) failure. I’m talking about Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Dune.
One of the very few copies of the storybook detailing Jodorowsky’s Dune is set to go up for auction at Christie’s later this month. Christie’s estimates the book’s worth at about $28,000 – 40,000. This is before accounting for the 25% buyer’s premium to pay for shipping, taxes, processing fees, and more. That’s a whole lot for a book.
For one, the rarity. Christie’s (a major art dealer company) claims there are 20 or fewer copies in existence. Between Jodorowsky and Lynch’s attempts, for a long time, Dune was dubbed an impossible book to adapt for film. That is until this year’s movie, which has had mostly positive (but not without valid critiques) of Villeneuve’s adaptation, which primarily focuses on the beginning of the original book’s story.
While Jodorowsky’s Dune never happened, the mounting amount of art and creativity from those involved made a lasting impact on science fiction and its subgenres in Hollywood forever. Yes, it is fascinating to know Pink Floyd was attached to the project, as well as a cast that included Salvador Dalí, Mick Jagger, Orson Welles, and more. But the behind-the-scenes talent is one of the reasons the never-made film remains hugely relevant to film history.
Artists like Christopher Foss, Jean Giraud-Moebius, and H.R. Giger worked on the visual elements of Jodorowsky’s Dune that would never come to fruition (at least in a Dune movie). Later, they found success in franchises such as Star Wars, Aliens, and more, sometimes using similar frames and designs.
From the pages shared and animated in the 2014 documentary, Jodorowsky’s Dune alone, this storybook is a treasure trove of information. The plans for costumes, scenes, camera direction, set design, ship design, and much more—all are in this book.
The first many heard of the book (myself included) is when Jodorowsky shared in the 2014 documentary.
Another fascinating element of this whole saga was the fact that (as the trailer shows) Jodorowsky never read Dune, but adored it conceptually. He also had some sort of a working relationship with Herbert during pre-production, where millions were spent, until the studio eventually nixed the project and later sold it. Jodorowsky loved the story (his development of it, at least) so much he wanted to put together a 14-hour science fiction event. Once you go over 4 hours, we have to call it “an event” at that point.
(Image: Humanoids, Inc.)
Even though it seems like Jodorowsky at times is frustrated that his efforts aren’t as well known, he doesn’t seem to harbor any ill will with the creatives that continue to work beyond Dune. For example, over a decade later he released the graphic novel The Incal with Moebius. The graphic novel takes visual and story elements from Jodorowsky’s Dune that I guess were never used because that would put them in a copyright situation possibly? In a way, The Incal may be the closest we can get to the storybook up for auction at Christie’s because it features two of its prominent creatives.
The Incal made news a few days back because it too is getting adapted. This time by none other than our New Zealand fave Taika Waititi. Jodorowsky is calling it “Waititi’s Incal.”
Please, please, if you are reading this, upload a PDF of this book online or donate it to an institution that can navigate opening it to the public. Consider it a gift to science fiction nerds, film historians, archivists, and artists. I’m not sure if what I’m asking for is even legal, but it definitely sounds like a tax write-off. Think of your fellow Dune fans!
(via Gizmodo, image: screenshot from trailer.)
Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!
—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
The post Rare Book Outlining Plans From Jodorowsky’s Dune To Go Up For Auction first appeared on The Mary Sue.
Afronerd Radio can now be heard LIVE courtesy of Apple Music/Itunes
What's up, loyal AFROnerdists! Due to time constraints, let's just get into it. It's our latest Mid Week in Review episode, courtesy of the Afronerd Radio "steam engine" and broadcasting live on BTalk 100 this Wednesday at 8 p.m. eastern. The topics to be discussed are: the long-awaited Netflix Black Western film, The Harder They Fall debuted today and we have our first impressions; three phenoms and icons were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-Tina Turner, Jay-z and L.L. Cool J. Perhaps it's been a long time coming but do they all fit the bill for being considered "Rock." (Tina Turner is a true rocker and should have been inducted years ago as a solo artist!); many pop culture enthusiasts are keenly aware of the highly touted Netflix hit from South Korea, The Squid Game but how many knew that there was a cryptocurrency of the same name? Well, pray that you didn't know about this crypto or invested in it because it turns out that it was a well-orchestrated scam. We will discuss....
And then there's the Morbius trailer.....again (when is this coming out again?)
And then there were some topics we failed to address during our Grindhouse show (tech problems, folks) such as the Facebook rebranding into "Metaverse"; the Iron Fist "rebranding" of sorts as well; a former "hobbit" (Elijah Wood) gets indirectly caught up in an NFT "racist" scandal and lastly, there were notable US elections that seem to be favorable for the Repubs (Virginia, specifically) based on Critical Race Theory as a red herring misapplied scare tactic. Again....we'll get into it.
One thing that Dburt is doing (finally) is investing in cryptocurrency, courtesy of Roundlyx. We would implore our followers to investigate, discern and then explore by using our referral code: afro-87A4BF
Call us LIVE at 508-645-0100. AFTER CLICKING ON THE HIGHLIGHTED LINK, GO DIRECTLY TO AFRONERD RADIO!!!
Also, Afronerd Radio's podcast format can be heard via BTalk 100 Pandora, Spotify and, IHeartRadio....more formats to follow!
Afronerd Radio can now be heard LIVE courtesy of Apple Music/Itunes
Greetings, loyal AFROnerd citzenry! Let's just get to it, shall we? Listen to the latest installment of Afronerd Radio's Grindhouse show, airing every Sunday at 6 p.m. eastern on the BTalk 100 internet broadcasting platform. Join your highly favored AFROnerdist hosts, as they unpack and muse about the following topics: burgeoning journalist (Fusion, Medium, HuffPost), content creator, and founder of the online digital news and information site, Context Media Group stops by to discuss his formative years, career, growing online impact and the need for independent Black men's media; the highly-anticipated Marvel superteam movie, The Eternals, premiered this weekend and is poised for a 70M box office return despite mixed reviews-we give you our first impressions; popular rapper, Travis Scott (or his concert promoters) is in a whole heap of legal trouble due to his Astroworld concert that caused a crowd surge resulting in the death of 8 people and numerous injuries; hip-hop artist and popular Spotify podcaster, Joe Budden purportedly "came out" in mid-conversation during his show but many believe that it's a trolling tactic to prove a point about ones alleged and crafted self-identity being used for social (media) currency:
One thing that Dburt is doing (finally) is investing in cryptocurrency, courtesy of Roundlyx. We would implore our followers to investigate, discern and then explore by using our referral code: afro-87A4BF
Call us LIVE at 508-645-0100. AFTER CLICKING ON THE HIGHLIGHTED LINK, GO DIRECTLY TO AFRONERD RADIO!!!
Also, Afronerd Radio's podcast format can be heard via BTalk 100 Pandora, Spotify and, IHeartRadio....more formats to follow!