Is Dune based on a true story?

See also: Dune (novel) § Adaptations, and Dune (franchise)

Following the publication of Frank Herbert's novel Dune in 1965, it was considered to have potential for a possible film adaptation. Since 1971, various producers have held film adaptation rights for the novel. Attempts to make an adaptation based on the book were considered to be "unfilmable" due to its breadth of content. The book's status among fans meant that deviations without strong justification could potentially harm the film's reputation.

Alejandro Jodorowsky acquired the rights in the 1970s to make a fourteen-hour adaptation of the book, but the project ultimately failed to secure sufficient funds. This development effort became the subject of the documentary film Jodorowsky's Dune (2013). David Lynch's Dune, produced by Raffaella De Laurentiis in 1984, was intended as a three-hour film but was cut to 137 minutes; it was poorly received and Lynch himself ended up disowning it. In 1996, producer Richard P. Rubinstein acquired the rights to the novel. Frank Herbert's Dune, a live-action miniseries produced by Rubinstein and directed by John Harrison, aired on the Sci Fi Channel in 2000; it was a ratings hit and was generally better received than Lynch's film. Some reviewers criticized the miniseries for lacking the spectacle afforded to a feature film production, as well as for staying too faithful to the book and being bogged down by exposition. Prospects to make a successful adaptation of Dune improved after the critical and commercial success of the film series adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, both of which maintained most of the works' key characters and plots while managing the limited running time. In 2008, Paramount Pictures hired Peter Berg to direct an adaptation. Berg left the project in October 2009, with director Pierre Morel being hired in January 2010. Paramount later cancelled the project in March 2011, as they could not come to key agreements, with their rights reverting to Rubinstein.