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Storyboard page<\/p>\nThere may be only ten copies of it in the Known Universe. The San Diego State University Library owns one of them, and your chance to see it comes this Thursday.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the massive storyboard book for what would have been the first movie version of \u201cDune,\u201d adapted from the Hugo award-winning Frank Herbert novel by cult filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky. As a companion to the script, the book contains more than 3,000 drawings showing exactly how each scene was to play out from the camera\u2019s point of view, along with more detailed color paintings of the planned characters, set design, vehicles and props.<\/p>\n
Storyboard page<\/p>\n
A special viewing opportunity will be offered after a screening of \u201cJodorowsky\u2019s Dune,\u201d a 2013 documentary on the failed attempt to make the movie. The book features prominently in the 90-minute documentary, which includes interviews with Jodorowsky and others on the would-be production team.<\/p>\n
The screening is at 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, in the Marsh Science Fiction Room on the first floor of Love Library. The event will be introduced by Head of Special Collections Anna Culbertson and science fiction fan, collector, and namesake donor Edward E. Marsh.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s free and open to the public but space is limited. Culbertson picked Thursday for the event because it’s the 126th anniversary of Herbert’s birth.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited to hold the first public event in the Marsh Science Fiction Room and share the vision that Ed and I have dreamed up together over the years for this inspiring space,\u201d said Culbertson.
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Fair warning: It\u2019s a look-don\u2019t-touch opportunity; the \u00a0book will be kept under glass. When not in the room for events or research, it\u2019s kept in a special vault.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are so excited to share this book with the SDSU community,” said Scott Walter, Dean of the University Library, \u201cand so grateful to our good friend, Edward E. Marsh, whose generosity over the years has helped the University Library to build an extraordinary collection of speculative fiction materials.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis book is an exceptionally appropriate addition to our collection,\u201d Walter added, \u201cas the film demonstrates how it is an artifact that embodies the intersection of speculative fiction, film, and graphic art \u2014 all of which are distinctive strengths both of the SDSU curriculum and of the library’s special collections.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is believed only 20 copies of the production book were made. In the 2013 documentary, Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn speculates only two copies may still exist but other sources cite higher numbers and 10 is widely viewed as a more reliable estimate.<\/p>\n
SDSU acquired its volume in 2019, and Culbertson said it’s the only one known to be in a public institutional setting.<\/p>\n
They were originally used to pitch the movie to Hollywood movie studios, none of whom were willing to take a flyer on such an audacious proposal in the pre-\u201dStar Wars\u201d era.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Pirate ship<\/p>\n
\u201cI made the picture with drawings,\u201d Jodorowsky says in the documentary, with the storyboards showing camera angles for each scene. They were made by influential French cartoonist Jean \u201cM\u0153bius\u201d Giraud; additional full-color illustrations were done by H.R. Giger (creator of the \u201cAlien\u201d movie creature) and Chris Foss.<\/p>\n
![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/dune-baron-harkonnen.jpg\")
Depiction of Baron Harkonnen, a villain in the movie.<\/p>\n
Another copy of the book was sold at auction in 2021 for over $3 million to a crypto group who thought they were purchasing exclusive rights to the art for the purpose of creating NFTs. They were sadly mistaken, but the sale\u2019s inflated value created quite a stir in the auction world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an artifact, this book supports research on the process of transforming the page to the screen, including storyboarding and concept art. There are a lot of people online talking about how they wish they could see it,\u201d Culbertson said.<\/p>\n
“As a public university, we’re able to provide access to anyone who visits. It also elevates our already outstanding collection of the works of Frank Herbert.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jodorowsky was known for highly experimental films, and envisioned his version of \u201cDune\u201d as a surreal, metaphysical experience comparable to taking the hallucinogenic drug LSD.<\/p>\n
His planned cast included Salvador Dali (Shaddam Corrino, emperor of the \u201cKnown Universe\u201d in Herbert\u2019s parlance), Orson Welles (Baron Harkonnen), Mick Jagger (Feyd-Rautha), Gloria Swanson (Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother) and David Carradine (Duke Leto Atreides). The music: Pink Floyd.<\/p>\n
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SDSU also owns a rare poster for the Jodorowski movie. it’s marked 2\/25 in one corner.<\/p>\n
In the documentary, Jodorowsky states the movie might have had a running time of 12 hours or more, an obvious deal-breaker for Hollywood. The storyboards show it ending in a major departure from the Herbert novel with the death of Paul Atreides and the transformation of the planet Arrakis into a conscious galactic voyager.<\/p>\n
\u201cDune\u201d was eventually adapted three times. The 1984 movie directed by David Lynch was a notorious box office flop. A Sci-Fi Channel television miniseries came in 2000. The two-part, Oscar-nominated adaptation directed by Denis Villeneuve gets a sequel in December, drawn from the second book in Herbert\u2019s \u201cDune\u201d series.<\/p>\n