Considered by many to be unadaptable due to its length and complexity, Frank Herbert’s science fiction epic Dune has made it to the screen about every two decades. David Lynch was the first director to successfully make a film adaptation in 1984, but his version of Dune was heavily criticized for numerous reasons. John Harrison’s 2000 television miniseries Frank Herbert’s Dune was a success for the Sci-Fi Channel and won Emmys, yet has mostly been forgotten. Meanwhile, Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 film Dune: Part One won Oscars but only adapted the first two-thirds of the book, leaving viewers waiting for the conclusion.

Each director expressed concern with staying faithful to the world’s bestselling science fiction book while attempting to bring to life its characters, settings, and story. But in the end, how faithful were they to Frank Herbert’s 1965 masterpiece?

Adaptations of Dune: Frank Herbert’s Story on Screen dives into this topic by analyzing each screen adaptation and its degree of faithfulness to Herbert’s book. Collecting information from a wide range of sources, Kara Kennedy provides thorough background information and context for each adaptation before exploring such wide-ranging topics as the story, script, setting, costuming, characters, and more. Through this process, she uncovers the changes made during adaptation and reveals how faithful each screen adaptation is to its source material.