Taken from Ed Naha's The Making of Dune.
We spent six year developing Dune. I didn't want to rush
this one and make a silly film.
Dino De Laurentiis
Why make a movie out of Dune? The reasons are all in the
book.
Rafaella De Laurentiis, producer
A lot of people have tried to film Dune. They all
failed. I tried writing a screenplay of it, once. It was rotten.
Frank Herbert
Nobody is as crazy as I am. You have to be crazy to make a movie like
Dune.
Dino De Laurentiis
You can't get a movie like this done worrying about it as a whole. You
have to take it scene by scene... or go crazy.
David Lynch, director
Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo) spent a couple of million
dollars in pre-production of his version. He even hired Salvador Dali
as his production designer. Nothing ever happened. I'm not quite sure
why it fizzled. Without exaggeration, his script would have made an
eleven-or-twelve-hour movie. It was the size of a phonebook. It was
pretty anti-Catholic, too.
Frank Herbert
The characters are exactly as I have envisioned them... sometimes even
better.
Frank Herbert
This is the dirtiest job I've ever had... and that includes
construction work.
Sting, actor (Feyd)
Wearing the stillsuits in the desert was the next best thing to
dying.
Everett McGill, actor (Stilgar)
I only came close to passing out once... I think.
Paul Smith, actor (Rabban)
I was down there five weeks. It seemed like five years.
Sting, actor (Feyd)
It's an absolutely giant playpen. A serious playpen, but a playpen
nonetheless.
Francesca Annis, actress (Jessica)
I'm curious as hell to see what this is going to look like with all
the stuff we are supposed to be imagining in our minds actually put
in the film.
Kyle MacLachlan, actor (Paul)
I think David (Lynch) likes the Harkonnens, who are the most hideous
band in the film. I think he likes the nightmare sequences. The movie
should reflect that. It'll be a world in sheep's clothing. That suits
me.
Sting, actor (Feyd)
I think this script is terrific. I can't believe it's remained as
complex as it has. That's difficult to do with film. Film is dumb, you
know? It really is.
Brad Dourif, actor (Piter)
I was unprepared for the purity of the desert and its elegance and its
great, classy beauty.
Patrick Stewart, actor (Gurney)
Feyd is evil... with a large jockstrap.
Sting, actor (Feyd)
The young actor who is playing Paul? It's fascinating. He claims that
Dune has been his Bible. He's read it every year since he was
fourteen.
Frank Herbert
I'm awed by the newness of it, coming into a movie having never done
one before. Then again, I'm an old friend of Paul's. I feel like I
know him. In a sense, I am him.
Kyle MacLachlan, actor (Paul)
I mean, as a fan, I've been waiting for this for years. Now, as an
actor, I want to make sure that Paul Atreides is everything that a
Dune fan expects.
Kyle MacLachlan, actor (Paul)
When I first read the script I was disappointed. I came in saying, "I
want Dune." It took me a little time to get used to the
differences. I finally said, "It's not going to be Dune
by Frank Herbert. It's going to be Dune by Frank Herbert,
adapted by David Lynch, put on film and conveyed by actors.
Kyle MacLachlan, actor (Paul)
David's vision is very, very bizarre because, I think, he's a very
bizarre person. He's not normal. He's out of somewhere... out of left
field. The reason I'm doing Dune is to work with David
Lynch.
Sting, actor (Feyd)
I really like our Guild Navigator. He's pretty odd looking. Pretty our
there. I wouldn't have minded him being a little odder, though. Things
just can't get odd enough for me.
David Lynch, director
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