The Dune franchise has become a spectacular piece of cinema with Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of the Frank Herbert novels. Starring Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, and Florence Pugh among so many other actors, the expected trilogy is already two movies down, with one more in the works. But before Villeneuve changed people’s mind about the spice fields of Arrakis and the Empire, there were a few other tries to bring this story to life.
The most successful of them, it terms of the audience getting a full length movie, was the one made by David Lynch. The 1984 adaptation of Dune was a critical and commercial failure, becoming one of the few films in David Lynch’s career that was not accepted by the people. As film writer Max Evry once said, it was the “black sheep of David Lynch’s filmography.” But as many would go on to say in the later years, the 1984 movie wasn’t as bad as it was reported to be back then, and gained an almost cult like status in the later years.
Val Kilmer, Tom Cruise, Fought to Play Paul Atreides in David Lynch’s Dune
While it was Kyle MacLachlan who ended up winning the role of Paul Atreides in David Lynch’s Dune, there were quite a few other big names that were in the running. Top Gun stars Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise both read for the role, as did Yellowstone star, Kevin Costner. Allegedly, Val Kilmer was the top choice to play the lead role until David Lynch saw MacLachlan as Muad’Dib.
In an interview for Mac Evry’s book, A Masterpiece in Disarray: David Lynch’s Dune, Production Assistant Craig Campobasso said:
We screen-tested Michael Biehn, Kevin Costner, Lewis Smith. There were a few others. Val Kilmer, of course, because Val was actually the number one choice up until Kyle did his screen test.
He further added:
Paul-Muad’Dib is not an easy character. Kyle made it look easy, but if you saw all the other actors struggling… Michael Biehn did not live up to it. Kevin Costner did not. It’s not that they’re bad actors; they just didn’t fit the criteria for Paul-Muad’Dib. because you’re looking for this inner strength.
Fortunately or not, none of them got the role, and it eventually went to Kyle MacLachlan. And sadly for him, the movie ended up being a call to doom than the career boost he had hoped it would be. His career hit a slump after Dune, and it would again be David Lynch, who would later revive it for him (and Dennis Hopper), with the neo-noir mystery thriller Blue Velvet.
How Sting Ended Up as The Antagonistic Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen
Sting is a renowned musician, but what sime may not remember is that he has quite a few film credits to his name, including David Lynch’s 1984 directorial, Dune. His career was at an all time at the time with The Police, and even though Feyd-Rautha’s role in the movie was not as elaborate as Austin Butler’s in Dune: Part II, it was still an important character in the story.
Casting Director Jane Jenkins was the one who was first pricked with the idea of casting Sting. The musician and his manager weren’t being clear with their answer, so Lynch took a flight to London himself, and talked to Sting and his team. Stunt double Terri Hardin shared a funny anecdote from the time, saying:
I did the body cast for Sting, and it was fast. He ran in, we did it, he was gone. We were told to get it done and get him out. I kept getting these phone messages where people were like, “Are you taking a body cast of Sting? Could you duplicate his crotch for us?” When I was doing the mold on him, I said, “You know Sting, you could make a lot of money.” And he was like, “What?” I said, “I don’t know what it is, but people are calling me and saying they’d like to have a cast of your crotch. Why is that?” He just started laughing and said, “Seriously?”
Whether that cast was made or not, this just goes on to show how popular Sting was at the time. And even if the movie didn’t do well, no one can forget him standing in that blue speedo.
Dune (1984) is available for streaming on Netflix.
