The Dune trailer contains an Easter Egg from Alejandro Jodorowsky’s failed adaptation. Jodorowsky famously attempted to adapt Frank Herbert’s iconic book back in 1975, a full decade before David Lynch’s divisive adaptation hit theaters. The Chilean-French filmmaker had a lot of lofty goals for the movie, including bringing in artist H.R. Giger, who’s unused art from the movie went on to influence a whole new generation of sci-fi directors, like a young George Lucas. Jodorowsky also wanted Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger to star, along with artist Salvador Dali. Additionally, he needed the right soundtrack for his vision.
Alejandro Jodorowsky wanted his take on Dune to be a religious experience that made audiences feel like they were tripping on LSD, so he needed the perfect band to make that happen. The director went straight to Pink Floyd and the French progressive rock band Magma to help bring his vision to life. Due to an overwhelming budget that kept ballooning, the movie and soundtrack never happened, but the filmmaker has spoken many times over the years about wanting original Pink Floyd music for Jodorowsky’s Dune.
Fast forward nearly 50 years later and Denis Villeneuve has delivered the first trailer for his take on Dune. Fans of Pink Floyd noticed immediately that a cover of the band’s 1973 song “Eclipse” is playing in the background of the new footage, highlighting the lyrics “All that you touch, And all that you see, All that you taste, and All you feel.” Roger Waters wrote the lyrics to the song for the band’s breakthrough 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon, which is something that Alejandro Jodorowsky was very aware of at the time when he approached the band to take on the soundtrack for his Dune.
Denis Villeneuve could have chosen the Pink Floyd song at random, which would mean that this was all just a coincidence. However, many fans of Alejandro Jodorowsky would probably disagree. Villeneuve is a massive fan of Frank Herbert’s Dune and he is very much aware of Jodorowsky’s attempt to make an over the top adaptation for the big screen. It is believed that if his movie would have been completed, it would have been over 14 hours in length. Plus, it would have had a lot of Pink Floyd music in it, which is shown in the Jodorowsky’s Dune documentary.
Salvador Dali in Dune with a soundtrack of original Pink Floyd music is something that the world was not ready for in 1975. “Almost all the battles were won, but the war was lost,” said Jodorowsky after the project imploded. “The project was sabotaged in Hollywood. It was French and not American. Its message was not ‘enough Hollywood,'” he claims. Jodorowsky continues, “Later, the visual aspect of Star Wars resembled our style. To make Alien, they invited Moebius, Foss, Giger, O’Bannon, etc.” You can watch the trailer for Denis Villeneuve’s Dune above, thanks to the Warner Bros. YouTube channel.
