Summary

• Alejandro Jodorowsky's failed attempt to adapt Dune led to the creation of Alien, one of the most successful science-fiction films.
• Dan O'Bannon, who worked on Jodorowsky's Dune, used the opportunity to develop a different script, which became Alien.
• Alien drew inspiration from the talents involved in Jodorowsky's Dune, including H.R. Giger and Chris Foss, resulting in visual similarities between the two films.

Despite its massive failure, the first attempt at adapting Frank Herbert’s Dune to the big screen made it possible for one of the most iconic science-fiction films to come out. Alejandro Jodorowsky's Dune promised to be one most ambitious and artistic sci-fi movies ever filmed. Jodorowsky, a director with a very powerful artistic vision, had gathered a dream team to make a ten-hour-long film. However, it was also one of the biggest failures in cinema history as it never got actually made. There are many stories around the film's production and the people involved in it, but the one regarding the creation of another iconic script is certainly the best.

In 1974, French producer Michel Seydoux reached out to Alejandro Jodorowsky and asked him to direct an adaptation of the novel Dune. Driven by his extravagant and artistic personality, Jodorowsky's vision was more than ambitious. Among other important people, Chris Foss and Jean Giraud were in the art department, Pink Floyd was in charge of the music, and Salvador Dalí and Orson Welles were part of the cast. Additionally, Dan O'Bannon, who had already co-written John Carpenter's Dark Star, was the visual effects supervisor. Although the movie was canceled and turned out to be "The Greatest Film Never Made", this gave Dan O’Bannon the opportunity to develop a different script.

Jodorowsky's Dune Led To Alien

The series of events that led to the creation of Alien started right after Jodorowsky’s Dune got canceled. Dan O’Bannon, who had been working side by side with Jodorowsky, had to leave Paris and return to L.A. broke and without a place to live. He eventually ended up sleeping at scriptwriter Ronald Shusett's house. In a 2007 interview, O'Bannon told Den Of Geek “… I needed money, and the only way I could think of to make any money and get off of Ronnie’s sofa was by writing a spec script…”. In other words, the need to overcome his situation was the initial trigger to come up with a life-changing idea.

However, it was not only the desire to get out of Ronald’s couch that led to the creation of Alien’s original script. Shusett plays a very important role, as he and O'Bannon wrote the movie together. The fact that the two of them were great scriptwriters working under the same roof was as important as the initial incentive. What at first seemed to be a story about failure, turned out to set the perfect landscape for success to come. Dune did not become the greatest sci-fi movie ever made, but it made it possible for Alien to become not only a success, but an enormous franchise still producing movies.

How The Failed Dune Movie Influenced Alien

Although Alien’s success started with a very simple but great story, the people involved in the movie took it to another level. Many of the colleagues O'Bannon met while working on Jodorowsky’s Dune were significant reasons behind Alien’s greatness. H.R. Giger came up with the “alien” design, and both Foss and Giraud were concept artists in the art department as well. It is fair to say that Alien has many visual similarities with what would have been in Jodorowsky’s Dune. The "Best Movie Never Made" was not only the initial trigger for Alien but a huge influence stylistically and artistically on the franchise as well.

Source: Den of Geek