Anthem Screen Guides Magazine

“I know nothing comparable to it except The Lord Of The Rings.”
That was the verdict of the late author Arthur C Clarke of Frank Herbert’s Dune, a book that – to this day – stands as one of the best-selling and most beloved sci-fi novels of all time.
Since it was published in 1965, Dune has entranced millions of readers. It’s the favourite book of many, many SF fans, yet for years, it and its sequels were deemed unfilmable. David Lynch famously tried and failed, while Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky planned a 14-hour adaptation, only no studio would finance it. The Sci-Fi Channel did manage to get versions of the first three novels on TV screens in the early 2000s, but none had the grandeur that was needed to reflect the epic scale of Herbert’s space saga.
Until Denis Villeneuve, that is. A massive Dune-head since his teenage years, the Blade Runner 2049 filmmaker unveiled Dune: Part One in 2021, the first of what he hoped would be a two-part adaptation of Herbert’s 1965 book. It was a gamble – any Part Two was dependent on audiences turning up for the first half. He needn’t have worried, though, as his film ended up grossing $411 million, with Part Two even more successful. Villeneuve could have stopped there, of course, but there was one more Dune story he wanted to tell, the one that deconstructs the very idea of Paul Atreides as a hero.
Dune: Part Three (adapted from the 1969 book Dune Messiah) promises to be a very different movie to its predecessors, and in this special, we look forward to Denis Villeneuve’s much-anticipated trilogy closer. We also look back at the making of the first two movies, and put David Lynch’s film and Alejandro Jodorowsky’s unmade adaptation under the spotlight.
We also have in-depth features on the Sci-Fi Channel’s two miniseries, HBO’s ambitious prequel show, Dune: Prophecy, a full guide to the Dune books and profiles of Denis Villeneuve and his lead actor, the great Timothée Chalamet.
Enjoy!