Edited by Rachel Heung
Dune movie poster (Stotler, 2021)
More and more book-to-movie or book-to-shows adaptations have come out recently. The Nightingale, Dune, Exciting Times, Where the Crawdads sing- are just a few titles that fans will soon see on the screen. There are even more books that have announced their adaptations, including Percy Jackson, the Wheel of Time, the Lord of the Rings, Daisy Jones and the Six, and many more. (Friedlander, 2021)
Why are adaptations so popular? Well in 2015, 65% of fantastic films released were adapted from books. Book-to-movie adaptations tend to be more successful than original screenplays. On average, they earn 53% more revenue than original screenplays, and 70% of the world’s top-grossing films are adapted from books. Companies will take already popular books and convert them into scripts. These companies already have guaranteed an audience and free marketing by fans. They have a higher chance of succeeding at the box office. Popular books can be readapted many times- like Little Women, which has been adapted (into movies, tv shows, radio dramatisations, etc.) too many times to count. It also benefits the publishing industry- selling film rights means income for the author, the publishing company, and the agent. The book will also get more sales from the marketing the movie brings (Rothwell, 2019).
Dune, the science fiction epic written by Frank Herbert, is being released in theatres on the 16th of September, 2021 (Stotler, 2021). Dune was premiered at the Venice Film Festival 2021. It stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Ferguson and Oscar Isaac. The director, Denis Villeneuve, has also directed the films Arrival and Blade Runner 2049.
The movie only covers the first half of the novel. The plot revolves around a valuable spice called “melange”, enabling traders to light speed between the stars. However, melange is only found on the desert planet of Arrakis, which is overrun with deadly, giant sandworms. We follow Paul Atreides, a member of the Atreides family who is sent to govern the world of Arrakis. A chain of events ensues following their arrival.
Dune has been adapted before. In the 70s, Alejandro Jodorowsky attempted to adapt it but failed due to a lack of investments. Ridley Scott, another film director also tried to adapt it but stopped to create Blade Runner. Finally, after many failed attempts, the first successful adaptation was made by David Lynch in 1984. However, the movie flopped at the box office. Villeneuve, the director of the 2021 Dune, believes his film will succeed. The Guardian, a famous news publishing company has described Dune as a “low-burn space opera fuses the arthouse and the multiplex to create an epic of otherworldly brilliance.” (Dune: Critics, 2021)
References
Dune: Critics largely lavish praise on epic sci-fi remake. (2021, September 6). BBC News.
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-58438957
Friedlander, W. (2021, September 3). 125+ Books Becoming TV Series We Cannot Wait to
See. Rotten Tomatoes. https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/books-becoming-tv-
and-streaming-series/
Rothwell, H. (2019, October 6). The Success of Book to Film Adaptations. Medium.
https://medium.com/publishing-in-the-digital-age/book-to-film-adaptations-
caec7c65e96a
Stotler, K. C. (2021, September 5). 'Dune': Release Date, Cast, Sequel Details & Everything
We Know About Denis Villeneuve's Sci-Fi Epic So Far. Collider.
https://collider.com/dune-2021-release-date-trailer-cast-plot-sequel/
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