''Frank Herbert's Dune'' is a 2000
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
television miniseries, based on the
1965 novel of the same title by
Frank Herbert
Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science-fiction author, best known for his 1965 novel Dune (novel), ''Dune'' and its five sequels. He also wrote short stories and worked as a newspaper journalist, ...
. It is written for the screen and directed by
John Harrison
John Harrison ( – 24 March 1776) was an English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the History of longitude, problem of how to calculate longitude while at sea.
Harrison's sol ...
, and stars
Alec Newman
Mark Alexander Newman (born 27 November 1974) is a Scottish actor best known for portraying Paul Atreides in the Sci Fi Channel's 2000 miniseries adaptation of Frank Herbert's ''Dune''. He played Adam Smasher in '' Cyberpunk 2077'' and '' Cyb ...
as
Paul Atreides
Paul Atreides (; later known as Paul Muad'Dib, and later still as The Preacher) is a fictional character in the Dune (franchise), ''Dune'' universe created by Frank Herbert. He is a main character in the first two novels in the series, ''Dune ( ...
,
William Hurt as
Duke Leto Atreides, and
Saskia Reeves
Saskia Reeves (born 16 August 1961) is a British actress, known for her roles in films including '' Close My Eyes'' (1991) , ''I.D.'' (1995), and '' Our Kind of Traitor'' (2016), in the 2000 miniseries '' Frank Herbert's Dune'', and in TV seri ...
as
Lady Jessica, along with
Ian McNeice,
Julie Cox, and
Giancarlo Giannini
Giancarlo Giannini (; born 1 August 1942) is an Italian actor and voice actor. He won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' Love and Anarchy'' (1973) and received an Academy Award nomination for '' Seven Beaut ...
. It was an international co-production between the American cable network
Syfy, and companies in Germany, Canada, and Italy. This is the second overall filmed adaptation of Herbert’s novel, following the
1984 film directed by
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...
, and preceding
Denis Villeneuve
Denis Villeneuve Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, OAL (; ; born October 3, 1967) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. He has received seven Canadian Screen Awards as well as nominations for four Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, and two ...
’s two-part film adaptation (
2021
Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
and
2024
The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
).
The series was first broadcast in three installments, beginning on December 3, 2000. It was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
in 2001 by
Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment (formerly known as U.S.A. Home Video, International Video Entertainment (IVE) and LIVE Entertainment) was an American film studio and home video company. It was considered one of the largest mini-major film studios until i ...
, with an extended
director's cut appearing in 2002.
It received generally positive reviews, and was praised by both critics and audiences for its faithfulness to Herbert’s novel. The series was nominated for three
Primetime Emmy Awards
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
and won two, for
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or Movie and
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects
This is a list of the winning and nominated programs of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Serial (radio and television), series, miniseries, television film, film, or television special, special. Since the aw ...
.
A 2003
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
miniseries titled ''
Frank Herbert's Children of Dune
''Frank Herbert's Children of Dune'' is a three-part science fiction television miniseries written by John Harrison and directed by Greg Yaitanes, based on Frank Herbert's novels '' Dune Messiah'' (1969) and '' Children of Dune'' (1976). Firs ...
'' continues the story, adapting the second and third novels in the series (1969's ''
Dune Messiah'' and its 1976 sequel ''
Children of Dune''). Both miniseries are among the highest-rated programs ever to be broadcast on the Syfy Channel.
Cast
*
William Hurt as
Duke Leto Atreides
*
Alec Newman
Mark Alexander Newman (born 27 November 1974) is a Scottish actor best known for portraying Paul Atreides in the Sci Fi Channel's 2000 miniseries adaptation of Frank Herbert's ''Dune''. He played Adam Smasher in '' Cyberpunk 2077'' and '' Cyb ...
as
Paul Atreides / Muad'Dib
*
Saskia Reeves
Saskia Reeves (born 16 August 1961) is a British actress, known for her roles in films including '' Close My Eyes'' (1991) , ''I.D.'' (1995), and '' Our Kind of Traitor'' (2016), in the 2000 miniseries '' Frank Herbert's Dune'', and in TV seri ...
as
Lady Jessica
*
James Watson
James Dewey Watson (born April 6, 1928) is an American molecular biology, molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he co-authored with Francis Crick the academic paper in ''Nature (journal), Nature'' proposing the Nucleic acid ...
as
Duncan Idaho
Duncan Idaho is a fictional character in the Dune (franchise), ''Dune'' universe created by Frank Herbert. He was introduced in the first novel of the series, 1965's ''Dune (novel), Dune'', and became a breakout character. He was revived in 1969' ...
* as
Thufir Hawat
*
P. H. Moriarty as
Gurney Halleck
* Robert Russell as
Dr. Wellington Yueh
* Laura Burton as
Alia Atreides
*
Ian McNeice as
Baron Vladimir Harkonnen
Baron Vladimir Harkonnen () is a fictional character in the Dune (franchise), ''Dune'' franchise created by Frank Herbert. He is primarily featured in the 1965 novel ''Dune (novel), Dune'' and is also a prominent character in the ''Prelude to Dune ...
*
Matt Keeslar as
Feyd-Rautha
* as
Glossu Rabban
''Dune (franchise), Dune'' is a science fiction media franchise that originated with the 1965 Dune (novel), novel of the same name by American author Frank Herbert. ''Dune'' is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in histor ...
* Jan Unger as
Piter De Vries
''Dune'' is a science fiction media franchise that originated with the 1965 novel of the same name by American author Frank Herbert. ''Dune'' is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history, and won the 1966 Hugo Award ...
*
Giancarlo Giannini
Giancarlo Giannini (; born 1 August 1942) is an Italian actor and voice actor. He won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' Love and Anarchy'' (1973) and received an Academy Award nomination for '' Seven Beaut ...
as
Padishah Emperor
Multiple organizations of the ''Dune'' universe dominate the political, religious, and social arena of the setting of Frank Herbert's Dune (franchise), ''Dune'' series of science fiction novels, and derivative works. Set tens of thousands of year ...
Shaddam IV
''Dune (franchise), Dune'' is a science fiction media franchise that originated with the 1965 Dune (novel), novel of the same name by American author Frank Herbert. ''Dune'' is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in histor ...
*
Julie Cox as
Princess Irulan
*
Miroslav Táborský
Miroslav Táborský (born 9 November 1959 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech actor who has appeared in Czech television series, as well as in American films.
Táborský studied physics at the University of Hradec Králové, and then graduated ...
as
Count Hasimir Fenring
*
Uwe Ochsenknecht as
Stilgar
''Dune (franchise), Dune'' is a science fiction media franchise that originated with the 1965 Dune (novel), novel of the same name by American author Frank Herbert. ''Dune'' is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in histor ...
*
Barbora Kodetová as
Chani
* Jakob Schwarz as
Otheym
*
Karel Dobrý as
Liet-Kynes
* Christopher Lee Brown as
Jamis
* Jaroslava Šiktancová as
Shadout Mapes
*
Zuzana Geislerová as
Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam
Gaius Helen Mohiam is a fictional character in the ''Dune'' universe created by Frank Herbert. She is a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother, and initially appears in the 1963–65 novel ''Dune'' and its 1969 sequel, '' Dune Messiah''. Mohiam also has ...
* Philip Lenkowsky as
Guild Agent
Production
Development
Acquiring the television rights to Frank Herbert's original six ''Dune'' novels,
executive producer
Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...
Richard P. Rubinstein envisioned the complex material adapted in a miniseries format, as he had done previously with
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
's ''
The Stand'' and ''
The Langoliers''. He told ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' in 2003, "I have found there's a wonderful marriage to be had between long, complicated books and the television miniseries. There are some books that just can't be squeezed into a two-hour movie." Around the same time Rubenstein was first developing the material, the Sci Fi Channel's president,
Bonnie Hammer
Bonnie Hammer (born 1950) is an American network and studio executive. , her title is vice-chairman, NBCUniversal.
Early life
Born to a Jewish family , was spearheading a campaign for the channel to produce "blockbuster miniseries on a regular basis".
The ''Dune'' miniseries was greenlit in November 1999.
Released in 2000, ''Frank Herbert's Dune'' was the first of the Sci Fi Channel's miniseries, followed by
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
's miniseries ''
Taken'' in 2002, and ''
Frank Herbert's Children of Dune
''Frank Herbert's Children of Dune'' is a three-part science fiction television miniseries written by John Harrison and directed by Greg Yaitanes, based on Frank Herbert's novels '' Dune Messiah'' (1969) and '' Children of Dune'' (1976). Firs ...
'' and ''
Battlestar Galactica
''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. It began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series, '' Galactica 1980'', a line of book adaptat ...
'' in 2003. Rubenstein called his two ''Dune'' miniseries "science fiction for people who don't ordinarily like science fiction" and suggested that "the ''Dune'' saga tends to appeal to women in part because it features powerful female characters".
Filming
Though the production initially scouted filming locations in
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
, these proved unfeasible. ''Dune'' was shot entirely in the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
at
Barrandov Studios
Barrandov Studios is a set of film studios in Prague, Czech Republic. It is the largest film studio in the country and one of the largest in Europe. Barrandov has made several major Hollywood productions, including ''Mission: Impossible (film), ...
in
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
, with post-production taking place at
Cinecittà Studios
Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City) is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studios were constru ...
in
Rome, Italy
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
.
The miniseries was shot by
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People and fictional and mythical characters
* Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar
* Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...
-winning cinematographer
Vittorio Storaro in his proprietary
Univisium (2.00:1)
aspect ratio
The aspect ratio of a geometry, geometric shape is the ratio of its sizes in different dimensions. For example, the aspect ratio of a rectangle is the ratio of its longer side to its shorter side—the ratio of width to height, when the rectangl ...
, although it was broadcast in 1.78:1. The sets were designed by production designer
Miljen Kljaković, and the costumes by
Theodor Pištěk.
Comparisons to source material
Director John Harrison has described his adaptation as a "faithful interpretation" in which any changes he made served to suggest what Herbert had explained subtly or not at all. The miniseries introduces elements not found in Herbert's novel, but according to the director, these serve to elaborate rather than to edit.
Hurt was the first to be cast in the 2000 adaptation. A fan of the novel, he told ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', "I was a science fiction junkie ...
arrisoncaptured Herbert's prophetic reflection of our own age, where nation-states are competing with the new global economy and its corporate elements."
Herbert's novel begins with lead character
Paul Atreides
Paul Atreides (; later known as Paul Muad'Dib, and later still as The Preacher) is a fictional character in the Dune (franchise), ''Dune'' universe created by Frank Herbert. He is a main character in the first two novels in the series, ''Dune ( ...
being 15 years old and aging to 18 over the course of the story. Harrison aged the character to adulthood in order to draw upon an adult acting pool for this crucial role.
The miniseries invents an extensive subplot for
Princess Irulan, a character who plays little part in the plot of the first novel. Harrison felt the need to expand Irulan's role because she played such an important part in later books, and
epigraphs from her later writings opened each chapter of ''Dune''.
Additionally, the character gave him a window into
House Corrino
''Dune'' is an American science fiction media franchise that originated with the 1965 novel ''Dune (novel), Dune'' by Frank Herbert and has continued to add new publications. ''Dune'' is frequently described as the best-selling science fiction n ...
.
Besides the final scene, the only one of Irulan's appearances based on an actual excerpt from the novel is her visit to
Feyd-Rautha. However, in the book it is a different
Bene Gesserit,
Margot Fenring, who visits the
Harkonnen heir, on assignment from the Bene Gesserit to "preserve the bloodline" by retrieving his genetic material (through conception) for their
breeding program
A breeding program is the planned breeding of a group of animals or plants, usually involving at least several individuals and extending over several generations. There are a couple of breeding methods, such as artificial (which is man made) a ...
. The miniseries does not suggest this as Irulan's motive.
Soundtrack
A
soundtrack
A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
album for the miniseries was released by
GNP Crescendo Records on December 3, 2000. It contains 27 tracks composed by
Graeme Revell and Tim Simonec and performed by the
City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
Reception
Ratings
''Frank Herbert's Dune'' aired in three parts, starting Sunday, December 3, 2000.
The first installment achieved a 4.6 rating with 3 million homes, and the miniseries averaged a 4.4/2.9 million households over all three nights.
This doubled all viewership records for Sci Fi, placing ''Dune'' among the top ten of basic cable's original miniseries in the five years previous.
Two of the three installments also rated among the year's top 10 original cable movies.
As of 2007, the 2000 ''Dune'' miniseries and its
2003 sequel were two of the three highest-rated programs ever to be broadcast on the Sci Fi Channel.
Critical response
Emmet Asher-Perrin of ''
Tor.com
''Reactor'', formerly ''Tor.com'', is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on specul ...
'' deemed the miniseries a better adaptation than the
1984 Lynch film, but wrote that "it doesn't reach spectacular heights due to the desire to be as close to the written text as possible." She wrote that "the story naturally drags at certain points in the book that work in prose but not on screen", and added that "the narrative gets over-explained in an effort to be sure that no one watching is left behind." Asher-Perrin suggested that Harrison's choice to cast adult actor Newman as Paul is problematic because the character is written in the script as less mature and observant than he is in the source novel, but she praised many members of the cast, in particular McNeice (Baron Harkonnen) and Cox (Irulan). Asher-Perrin also complimented the special effects, set design, and costuming.
The series was also praised by several critics, including
Kim Newman.
Awards and nominations
Alternate versions
A director's cut special edition was released on DVD featuring expanded footage and dialogue.
Video game
The 2001
3D video game ''
Frank Herbert's Dune'' by
Cryo Interactive/
DreamCatcher Interactive is styled after the 2000 miniseries.
Sequel series
A 2003
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
miniseries titled ''
Frank Herbert's Children of Dune
''Frank Herbert's Children of Dune'' is a three-part science fiction television miniseries written by John Harrison and directed by Greg Yaitanes, based on Frank Herbert's novels '' Dune Messiah'' (1969) and '' Children of Dune'' (1976). Firs ...
'' continues the story, adapting the second and third novels in the series (1969's ''
Dune Messiah'' and its 1976 sequel ''
Children of Dune'').
Relation to other adaptations
John Harrison
John Harrison ( – 24 March 1776) was an English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the History of longitude, problem of how to calculate longitude while at sea.
Harrison's sol ...
and
Richard P. Rubinstein are credited as
executive producer
Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...
s of the
''Dune'' (2021) and ''
Dune: Part Two'' (2024), the two-part theatrical film adaptations of the novel released by
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
References
External links
*
*
Official ''Dune'' novels website*
*
*
*
{{Authority control
2000s American television miniseries
2000s Canadian science fiction television series
2000s Canadian television miniseries
2000s German television miniseries
Films directed by John Harrison (director)
Films scored by Graeme Revell
German science fiction television series
Italian science fiction television series
Italian television miniseries
Syfy original programming
Television remakes of films
Television shows based on Dune (franchise)
Television shows set in deserts
Television series set on fictional planets