Dune Screenwriter Eric Roth Was Not A Fan Of Frank Herbert's Novel
The Dune novel may have been director Denis Villeneuve's dream project to adapt, but it wasn't the first on the list for Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, Munich,The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), as the screenwriter for last year's sci-fi epic shared that he was never a huge fan of Frank Herbert's source material.
The acclaimed 1965 Dune book takes place in the far future and follows the Atreides family accepting the stewardship of the dangerous desert planet Arrakis (also referred to as Dune), which contains the most valuable substance in the universe known as the «spice.» But having control of a planet with so many riches means greater conflict for the family to face.
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In a new interview with IndieWire, Roth, who co-wrote Dune with Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts, said he was initially hesitant when he got the call from Villeneuve to work onDune. «Then he asked, 'Would you be interested in doing ‘Dune?'” And I said, 'I don’t know. I’m not sure this is my bailiwick.'» Roth recalled. «I had read the book. I liked other science-fiction books at least equally: “Childhood’s End,” “The Foundation.” But “Dune” was a little populist for me, it was prodigious. I knew it had defined a lot of people, certainly 14-, 15-year-old boys, which I was close to at that point. But I was never a fanboy.»
The interviewer added that not being a diehard fan was maybe a good thing, which Roth agreed with. «That’s right. That gave me an objective view of it. I grew up in that era, which “Dune” was part and parcel of — psychedelics and all the things that I lived through. I was a hippie, I have a lot of kids, grandkids. And so I said, “What the hell, I’ll try it. What have I got to lose?» the writer added. «I
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