von Kenni

Very true! "Dune looks/sounds to me like if you took Star Wars and made it for adults." <- couldn't agree more. I'm a fan of the Empire Strikes Back always but Star Trek has been more of my thing...but that's a whole other galaxy and let's not go there.

Like LOTR and Dune, Rama got in my dreams while reading it. That's usually a good sign for me of how it can be turned into a movie. But yes, you can approach it in many ways, and not all would fly. I haven't researched lately if Rama is in the works but there has been several attempts to film it in the past 20 years. I wouldn't be surprised if and when Dune succeeds enough (after Part 2?), it would be revived. I need to research who has the rights currently...

Touché 😏 Though George Lucas was influenced by Dune, I wouldn't discount the originality of Star Wars and how Lucas created the world of it by infusing different cultural and societal themes in it by himself.

Yes, you are right that Rendezvous With Rama isn't so much a standalone world as Dune or LOTR. I would be just excited to see it as a movie. This was my way to tip my toe further and open up wishes for Arthur C. Clarke adaptations. We've had 2001 & 2010, but there's also 2061, 3001, and plenty of other works. 3001 & Villeneuve, or Rama? I agree that many of these are hard sells for the general audiences but do they need to make billion dollars each? I think almost all of these are filmable up to a point that they have big enough budgets and are enough financial successes to make. Is it easy? No, but neither were 2001, Star Wars, and LOTR when they were first time introduced. All timeless movies usually scream for right people at the right place at the right time with dedication, hardship, and struggle on the way getting them out in the first place. Why would these be any different?

I read LOTR as a teenager and I watched FOTR three times in cinema (one time I had the last sold seat which was front row and the right most seat in front of a giant screen - speaking about a different perspective...). I loved the books and the movies. When I make the comparisons, I have nothing but respect for both epic stories and the rich storyworlds. You know, Frank Herbert as so many others in the 1960s America were inspired by LOTR. I think the movie comparisons breakdown and aren't so fruitful when you go into details. Close up they are different beasts, yet beautiful in their own ways. However, when you compare how different they are to what we are used to in the times they came out they have a lot of similarities. They open a new world full of richness and depth, worlds that the authors spent their lifetimes perfecting. I think Lucas captured well the comparison with FOTR. Dune needs Dune 2 (and Messiah) more than FOTR needed the T2T & ROTK. Though I think the need arises from the world building itself. Everyone can slip into the world of LOTR more easily. We've seen forests & countryside, heard, read, or seen fairytales, and so forth. The environment and building blocks are more familiar and relatable from the get go. Now move to the world of Dune with its galactic setting of spice, sandworms, and otherworldly mythology. It takes time to introduce that world and Dune Part 1 does it well. Sure, you could simplify it and make it like Star Wars (a different, yet a beautiful beast again) but then you would loose the depth that LOTR had in its world, the "realness" of it all. We may well have stars aligned that a huge payoff awaits us with Dune Part 2 & the Messiah, and then we have that LOTR / Star Wars (original)-esque new trilogy at hand which is different in appearance but nonetheless hugely awe inspiring.

Any estimates how much could the total be at the end of this week? Opening from now to end of Sunday?

For the "how many Dune movies" question, Villeneuve has clearly said in interviews that he wants to direct Dune Part 1 & 2 and Dune Messiah. I'm sure that if these are financially successful WB & Legendary start to milk the new world in every possible way. You could create endless amount of spinoff series in Dune universe like from LOTR (Silmarillion & Unfinished Tales) or like Mandalorian is doing with Star Wars. Of course you need someone like Jon Favreu who loves the source material, has the craft, and a vision where to take the storyworld. Very, very, very improbable happening with Dune but I'll be ecstatic already if Villeneuve can make the trilogy. Then maybe in 10 years we get a new "Villeneuve" doing magic with the Foundation & Robot series or the Rendezvous with Rama. Oh well, one dream at a time...

If you're planning to watch Dune, please read this. I re-read the book just before I went to watch Dune in theaters. Here's some advice on it: 1. Yes, this is something you don't want to miss in theaters. It can be a cinematic experience that goes to the bone. Something that I haven't experienced since LOTR. The enormity of it all, the new world it opens up, the beauty, and the score... 2. Why "can be"? Like with all experiences, you need to be ready for it. Reading the book beforehand is okay but you need to leave it at the door when you enter the cinema. Especially this movie needs that you calm your mind before seeing it. Have a good night sleep beforehand, meditate, drink a beer or do whatever it takes to tame your monkey mind before you enter the showing. Don't compare it to the book during the experience, just sit there, don't think, let it sink in. I caught myself comparing it to the book many times but at the end I was able to forget it and just relax. I can tell that it is authentic, true to the book, and it opened up the world that I imagined when I read Dune the first time 20 some years ago, but please, make yourself open for it, just take it in. Time for analyzing is afterwards. If you do these things, there's a good chance that you experience something wonderful and precious. I'm going back to see it again and this time follow better my own advice. At its best it is a dream like world where you can spend countless of hours and you wished that you could explore it freely looking behind the corners, walking the corridors, flying the ornithopters... When Villeneuve said that it is a love letter to cinema, it isn't an empty cliché but an apt description. The love of making huge detailed sets, costumes, and using as little cgi as possible, and shooting in real desert locations shows in the performances of the actors and the realness of it all. Go see it. Prime yourself ready for it and you just might experience something wonderful.