The director of the 2021 film adaptation of the classic Frank Herbert science fiction novel is Denis Villeneuve, a filmmaker with a penchant for stark, dusty existentialism. His previous sci-fi projects, Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, were notable for their strong visuals and heady concepts while being short on humor.
“Opinions are split on Villeneuve’s insistence that the film must be seen in theatres while we’re still in the midst of a pandemic, but it’s hard to deny that the aesthetic qualities of Dune are particularly suited to an immersive experience,” writes Alex Rose in Cult MTL.
Previous attempted adaptations of Dune include cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky's unsuccessful 1976 project that was cancelled after a pre-production visit by Herbert, David Lynch’s moderately profitable (though critically panned) 1984 movie that was later recut for television in two 2-hour segments, and a pair of miniseries titled Frank Herbert's Dune and Frank Herbert's Children of Dune.
