Dune Book Bought For Millions By People Who Don’t Understand Movie Rights

A group of Twitter users appear to have purchased a copy of Dune for over $3 million in a misguided effort to acquire the copyright to the novel. Dune, Frank Herbert’s 1965 science-fiction novel which follows main character Paul Atreides on a galaxy-changing journey on the planet Arrakis, found new popularity in 2021, thanks to director Denis Villeneuve’s film adaptation, which hit theaters and HBO Max on October 21, 2021.

Dune‘s political intrigue, thrilling action sequences, and awe-inspiring visual language made Villenueve’s film a critical and commercial hit. The movie has grossed $397 million worldwide, and a sequel that will cover the second half of the novel is scheduled to hit theaters in 2023. The novel has been adapted to screen multiple times since it was first published, with director David Lynch’s 1984 film as well as a 2000 miniseries created by John Harrison preceding the latest movie. Filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky attempted to adapt Dune to the big screen in the 1970s, a project that was ultimately never produced. Jodorowsky did produce a massive film “bible” to pitch his concept for adapting Herbert’s detailed world to film studios. While the pitch book is available to read online for free, it seems that few physical copies of Jodorowsky’s Dune concept exist.

In November 2021, a group of Twitter users under the handle @TheSpiceDAO won a Christie’s auction to purchase one of these rare pitch books for a whopping €2.66 million — just over $3 million in American dollars. Seemingly, the group went to this extreme (the asking price was originally €25,000 – €30,000) mistakenly believing they can now produce their own Dune content. On January 15, the group posted that they intend to make the book publicly available, produce an original animated series based on Jodorowsky’s Dune concept, and support further Dune-inspired productions from fans in their community. Despite the group’s lofty goals, Jodorowsky’s Dune pitch book is already available to view for free via Google, and the people behind this purchase do not own the copyright to anything regarding Dune.

Legendary Entertainment, which produced Dune (2021) and will produce Dune: Part Two, acquired film and television rights for Dune from Herbert’s estate in 2016. While the internet community that purchased Jodorowksy’s concept bible do, in fact, now own a rare physical copy of the book, they do not have any more right to produce content under the Dune name than any fan who owns a copy of any of the novels in the Dune series. It’s unclear whether the people behind the Twitter account understand this; as recently as January 15, the account posted that the group is developing an “original animated limited series.” Meanwhile, Legendary is developing a Dune spin-off television series titled Dune: The Sisterhood for HBO Max, in addition to Dune: Part Two. The streaming series intends to focus on the Bene Gesserit, an order of women with superhuman abilities in Dune who seek to influence the long-term path of humanity across the galaxy.

What might happen should the Twitter users behind the purchase actually produce anything resembling an adaptation of Dune based on Jodorowsky’s concept bible? It’s certainly hard to say. Fan-fiction for any number of beloved science-fiction and fantasy franchises is widely made and consumed across the internet, but the group does appear to believe they can create and sell a series to a major television streaming service. While enthusiasm among Dune fans, given the recent film’s success is commendable, it appears this effort is entirely misplaced.

Source: @TheSpiceDAO/Twitter

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Tommy McArdle
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Tommy McArdle is a writer and editor based out of Brooklyn, New York. He has previously written at Boston.com, Sporting News, Pop Dust, and Hollywood.com.

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