David Lynch says he will never watch Denis Villeneuve’s ‘DUNE’: “I don’t even want you to tell me about it, ever”

David Lynch says he will never watch Denis Villeneuve’s ‘DUNE’.

“I don’t even want you to tell me about it, ever.”

What posterity will make of Denis Villeneuve’s ambitious new take on Dune remains to be seen. Most likely, as with all adaptations of beloved novels, it will prove divisive. But almost unavoidably, it will have a better reception and a less tattered legacy, than Lynch’s Dune. Lynch’s film has its defenders but, on a fundamental level, it’s tough to defend too vigorously. As a narrative, it’s a disaster, inviting confusion within its first moments and growing muddier as it rushes to an almost perversely anticlimactic finale. The film’s actors struggle to define their characters between delivering exposition and sharing space with an expansive cast. Some special effects look remarkable. Others like last-moment rush jobs. In short, it’s a mess. But it’s also a film that draws on what Lynch had done before and informs what he’ll do in the future. Without Dune, the David Lynch filmography as we know it would not exist, even if that filmography now finds little room for Dune.

Inevitably, there were lots of comparisons to David Lynch’s lackluster 1984 version. Lynch’s “Dune” is well-known to be one of the worst flops in Hollywood history and the director’s worst movie. It’s practically unwatchable. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to sit through its entire 137 minutes. I’ve tried, because I’m a Lynch completist, but good God is it bad.  

Widely panned at the time, Lynch lost total creative control on the project, so much so that he asked the studio to remove his name from it entirely, sadly, his wish wasn’t granted. 

In a new interview with Cahiers du Cinema, Lynch admits that he’s still bitter about his experience making “Dune” and that he has no interest in catching Villeneuve’s version:

“I will never watch it, and I don’t even want you to tell me about it, ever.” 

Let’s not be confused here. I don’t believe Lynch is knocking Villeneuve’s ”Dune”. I think his ’Dune’ experience is still a very sore spot for him, and he doesn’t want to be reminded of it. The moral of the story is that people should just stop mentioning “Dune” to David Lynch.

A few years ago, Lynch did look back on the botched adaptation during a Q&A video on YouTube:

“I’m proud of everything except ‘Dune,’” Lynch answered. “I’ve liked so much working on different movies. It’s not so much about pride but the enjoyment of doing, the enjoyment of the work. I’ve enjoyed working in all these different mediums. I feel really lucky to have been able to enjoy those things and to be able to live.”

Lynch referred to his 1984 “Dune” adaptation as a “gigantic sadness in [his] life” because of the lack of creative freedom he received from the studio during the film, including being given a tepid budget to work with. During an interview in April Lynch said he had “zero interest” in seeing Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming new “Dune” adaptation because it will bring back too many painful memories.