How the original Dune film changed the course of David Lynch’s career

David Lynch’s first feature film, Eraserhead, was much beloved When it was released in 1977, thanks to some enterprising movie programmers, it remained in theaters for years on end, gaining huge popularity on the midnight movie circuit. One of the film’s many fans was Mel Brooks, the famous director of “Young Frankenstein” and “Blazing Saddles.” Wanting to encourage Lynch’s career, Brooks created his own production company, Brooksfilms, to finance his next project: a biography of Joseph Merrick, known to the world as the Elephant Man.

Lynch in “The Elephant Man” While it has the same oppressive black-and-white imagery as the surreal “Eraserhead,” it was an Oscar favorite, and was nominated for eight Academy Awards. It was up for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor, among others. Unfortunately, she lost in all eight of her categories.

However, Lynch—an eccentric painter and art student from Montana—was suddenly a power player on the Hollywood scene. So far, his two shorts and films have been indirect and off-putting, but Lynch has also proven himself talented and outspoken, attracting the attention of major Hollywood producers. Many may know how George Lucas approached Lynch about directing the then-upcoming Return of the Jedi film. And how the show gave Lynch headaches. Top producer Dino De Laurentiis also approached Lynch about directing a film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s “Dune,” a project that had been in development hell for years.

Lynch agreed to helm “Dune,” rewriting the story to his liking. It took several months to craft the script, and it eventually went through six drafts before one was crafted that Universal would agree to make. However, it turned out that completing “Dune” would be a nightmare. Filming was delayed, the studio interfered, and Lynch ended up hating the whole experience. His distaste for “Dune” would later define Lynch’s entire career.

In 1983, when “Dune” was filmed, Universal assumed it had a hit on its hands. The studio wanted something expensive and epic that could compete with Fox’s Star Wars franchise, and felt a more mature sci-fi story was the way to go. The film required a huge cast and extras, more than 80 sets, and extensive special effects. The film crew was said to have numbered around 1,700 people. It was supposed to be a huge success.

But that was not the case. Lynch had to rewrite the script so many times that he began to tire of the film. Filming then took place in Mexico and continued for a full six months, not ending until September of 1983. Many people became ill during production, communication lines remained down, and filming was often hampered by power outages. It was very difficult for Lynch.

When filming finally wrapped, Lynch had four hours of raw footage. The final (seventh!) draft of the script was supposed to last about three hours, but Universal, fearing such a huge length, insisted that Lynch cut it down to two hours. Lynch went into a wild editing process, adding voice-overs to clarify the film’s dense plot and mythology, and re-shooting scenes for clarity. The final cut was 137 minutes. Lynch has never had a longer “director’s cut” up his sleeve. Most of the film’s creative requirements were dictated by Universal or De Lauretiis, who all attempted to control the film away from Lynch.

Later, in 2022 interview with the AV Club“, Lynch admitted “Dune” was “sold out” Just a moment. He tried the old college experience, but he definitely wasn’t comfortable with corporate work, so to speak.

Many fans may be familiar with the 183-minute TV series version of Lynch’s “Dune,” often called “The Extended Cut.” This version was edited into a new novel and created stills for the film’s concept art, all in an effort to make Herbert’s story more compelling for a wider film audience. Lynch hated blogging so much that his name was removed from it. This cut is attributed to Alan Smithee.

Perhaps “Dune” was a flop. The film only grossed about $31.4 million at the global box office against a $40 million budget, killing Universal’s hope of a franchise. After all, the source material was too dense and weird for a feature film (at least at the time), while the actual film is constantly pulled between Lynch’s artistic sensibilities and the studio’s need for production lavishness. No one got what they wanted.

Lynch then decided to make his next film more personal, more surreal, and more comfortable to make. He was, from Dune onward, determined to only be involved in productions he wanted to be in, and was not to be swayed by studio whims or worries about big budgets. “Dune” was as “mainstream” as Lynch was going to get.

The following year, Lynch showed Dino De Laurentiis a more modest, personal film that greatly interested the producer. The movie was “Blue Velvet.” Film noir saw Lynch’s career set off on a completely new path. He was now freer to tell strange, dark, nightmarish and violent stories of sex and obsession. in Interview book “Lynch on Lynch” The director admitted that he had nowhere to go but after Dune. Now he is free to experiment the way he likes.

The rest of Lynch’s films after Dune were all undoubtedly his own productions, with the director maintaining close creative control over each one. “Dune” was a lesson for Lynch; He’d learned never to do anything like that again.