Dune Movies, opinions wanted


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A Thing of Eternity
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Re: Dune Movies, opinions wanted

Post by A Thing of Eternity »

Shadout Mapes. Everyone else is too pervasive throughout the book, she has an important enough roll to be compared to Tom, but apears only for a short period, could easily be cut.
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merkin muffley
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Re: Dune Movies, opinions wanted

Post by merkin muffley »

Shadout Mapes is essential to Paul's story, Yueh's betrayal, and developing what the audience knows about the Fremen. You could cut back on her character as it relates to Jessica, but other than that her character doesn't have a subplot that veers away from the main story. I think you need the scene with the hunter-seeker, she has to be in the scene where the Duke gets killed (unless you change that scene completely), and she's one of the ways we meet the native population of Dune.

Thufir's character is most involved in the subplot about Jessica being framed, which I think you'd have to lose. You'd definitely have to lose the subplot about Thufir trying to create chaos for the Harkonnens, and he's mainly behind the scenes for that subplot anyway.
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Superdog
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Re: Dune Movies, opinions wanted

Post by Superdog »

A Thing of Eternity wrote:Shadout Mapes. Everyone else is too pervasive throughout the book, she has an important enough roll to be compared to Tom, but apears only for a short period, could easily be cut.
I concur. And curiously, the crysknife she gives Jessica never shows up again.

I was actually working on a Dune screenplay out of boredom (this is the only website I would admit that on) and I cut out Mapes w/out hesitation.
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merkin muffley
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Re: Dune Movies, opinions wanted

Post by merkin muffley »

I feel like the movie would be pretty much the same length, though, if you cut out the Shadout Mapes. I think you're right that the scene where she gives Jessica the crysknife could be cut. Other than that I think you have the same scenes told without that character. I'm not sure what you gain in streamlining the story for adaptation by cutting out that character.
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Re: Dune Movies, opinions wanted

Post by TheDukester »

I'll go with "Let's not cut anything out and realize that Dune cannot possibly be told in two or three hours."

This, more than even Spanky and Bobo's involvement, is why the new Dune movie will suck. It has to suck; it will be too short by at least six hours.

Anyone who wants to present the story of Dune visually needs to call HBO or Showtime.
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Superdog
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Re: Dune Movies, opinions wanted

Post by Superdog »

merkin muffley wrote:I feel like the movie would be pretty much the same length, though, if you cut out the Shadout Mapes. I think you're right that the scene where she gives Jessica the crysknife could be cut. Other than that I think you have the same scenes told without that character. I'm not sure what you gain in streamlining the story for adaptation by cutting out that character.
I kept the scenes for the most part, but in a film there's no point in introducing a character if they play such a minor role. There's also no point in expecting the audience to remember them and it just confuses things. If they only appear in one act then take 'em out. Thus, Shadout Mapes becomes "Elderly Fremen Housekeeper".
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Superdog
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Re: Dune Movies, opinions wanted

Post by Superdog »

TheDukester wrote:I'll go with "Let's not cut anything out and realize that Dune cannot possibly be told in two or three hours."

This, more than even Spanky and Bobo's involvement, is why the new Dune movie will suck. It has to suck; it will be too short by at least six hours.

Anyone who wants to present the story of Dune visually needs to call HBO or Showtime.
I understand where you're coming from, but personally I'm of the "Nothing is unfilmable" school. A TV series is an interesting thought. Each book would be one season, or something to that effect.
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merkin muffley
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Re: Dune Movies, opinions wanted

Post by merkin muffley »

Superdog wrote: I kept the scenes for the most part, but in a film there's no point in introducing a character if they play such a minor role. There's also no point in expecting the audience to remember them and it just confuses things. If they only appear in one act then take 'em out. Thus, Shadout Mapes becomes "Elderly Fremen Housekeeper".
Makes sense.
Superdog wrote:
TheDukester wrote:I'll go with "Let's not cut anything out and realize that Dune cannot possibly be told in two or three hours."

Anyone who wants to present the story of Dune visually needs to call HBO or Showtime.
A TV series is an interesting thought. Each book would be one season, or something to that effect.
An HBO miniseries would be the best-case scenario, I think. It would probably never happen, and it's probably true that a two to three hour film of Dune could never be satisfying, but it's fun to think about. Must've been fun to write that screenplay, too.
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Superdog
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Re: Dune Movies, opinions wanted

Post by Superdog »

merkin muffley wrote:
Superdog wrote: I kept the scenes for the most part, but in a film there's no point in introducing a character if they play such a minor role. There's also no point in expecting the audience to remember them and it just confuses things. If they only appear in one act then take 'em out. Thus, Shadout Mapes becomes "Elderly Fremen Housekeeper".
Makes sense.
Superdog wrote:
TheDukester wrote:I'll go with "Let's not cut anything out and realize that Dune cannot possibly be told in two or three hours."

Anyone who wants to present the story of Dune visually needs to call HBO or Showtime.
A TV series is an interesting thought. Each book would be one season, or something to that effect.
An HBO miniseries would be the best-case scenario, I think. It would probably never happen, and it's probably true that a two to three hour film of Dune could never be satisfying, but it's fun to think about. Must've been fun to write that screenplay, too.
It was hard, I gave up after 40 pages. It was fun to write though.
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A Thing of Eternity
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Re: Dune Movies, opinions wanted

Post by A Thing of Eternity »

TheDukester wrote:I'll go with "Let's not cut anything out and realize that Dune cannot possibly be told in two or three hours."
Yes, I think we all realize that, this was just a hypothetical my friend. :wink:
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Superdog
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Re: Dune Movies, opinions wanted

Post by Superdog »

An animated movie is a good thought too. The lower budget would mean more creative control for the people making it. And it could be visually amazing, using the best concept artists and animators from America and Japan. (not that I think it should be anime per se)
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Re: Dune Movies, opinions wanted

Post by A Thing of Eternity »

I'm in agreement on that for sure, animated would be better, but it's unlikely to happen.
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Re: Dune Movies, opinions wanted

Post by Jodorowsky's Acolyte »

How about a DUNE animated film headed by Gerald Scarfe, the cartoonist who did art for Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here tours and The Wall? Try checking out the Scarfe cartoon sequence for the song, "Welcome to the Machine," on You Tube. It is very surreal and DUNE-like... Jodorowsky could make his long delayed film of DUNE into an animated film, OR a fully interactive computer game with advanced animations based off of Giger's and Foss's art work (with photo-realistic digital recreations of Orson Welles and David Carradine... AND Salvidor Dali).
'...all those who took part in the rise and fall of the Dune project learned how to fall one and one thousand times with savage obstinacy until learning how to stand. I remember my old father who, while dying happy, said to me: "My son, in my life, I triumphed because I learned how to fail."' -Alejandro Jodorowsky
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Redstar
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Re: Dune Movies, opinions wanted

Post by Redstar »

Jodorowsky's Acolyte wrote:How about a DUNE animated film headed by Gerald Scarfe, the cartoonist who did art for Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here tours and The Wall? Try checking out the Scarfe cartoon sequence for the song, "Welcome to the Machine," on You Tube. It is very surreal and DUNE-like... Jodorowsky could make his long delayed film of DUNE into an animated film, OR a fully interactive computer game with advanced animations based off of Giger's and Foss's art work (with photo-realistic digital recreations of Orson Welles and David Carradine... AND Salvidor Dali).
He kind of already did. When his role in the Dune adaptation fell through he went ahead and adapted his ideas into an original comic and (I believe) an animated film. It was posted on here a few months back.
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Re: Dune Movies, opinions wanted

Post by Robspierre »

Redstar wrote:
Jodorowsky's Acolyte wrote:How about a DUNE animated film headed by Gerald Scarfe, the cartoonist who did art for Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here tours and The Wall? Try checking out the Scarfe cartoon sequence for the song, "Welcome to the Machine," on You Tube. It is very surreal and DUNE-like... Jodorowsky could make his long delayed film of DUNE into an animated film, OR a fully interactive computer game with advanced animations based off of Giger's and Foss's art work (with photo-realistic digital recreations of Orson Welles and David Carradine... AND Salvidor Dali).
He kind of already did. When his role in the Dune adaptation fell through he went ahead and adapted his ideas into an original comic and (I believe) an animated film. It was posted on here a few months back.
The comic was Meta-Barons. Some crazy shit too :D

Rob
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