DP/30: Dune, Jon Spaihts

In the last decade, Jon Spaihts has been the credited writer on The Darkest Hour, Prometheus, Passengers, Doctor Strange, The Mummy (2017), and now, Dune. As he prepares for Oscar night and the start of production on Dune 2 in July, he took a moment to chat with David Poland about Dune and his remarkable career.

Shot via Zoom, March 2022

[JaySun]

I love conversations like this from the professionals pov. Very insightful. Thanks.

[peterkovic]

Dune was incredible. Parts 1 and 2 blew me away. Incredible adaptation.

[scrollop]

So good, as always. You're library of movie production wisdom and history is unique and important. Thank you.

[tyo]

Another brilliant and refreshing interview, thanks.

[spookyjeevus]

Great interview! Smart dialogue. And always love to hear the wisdom seething from Spaihts' brain.

[pietrobassosilva]

Very enlightening and a great insight into Hollywood for beginners. I love knowing about the behind the scenes of a writer for hire. Hope he gets more of his scripts made.

[DamjanPlamenac]

Adapting Dune is practically impossible, so I admire this man's resolve. Jon if you happen to see this, please have one Really Really Psychodelic scene with a capital PSY. I think people undermine Dune's Psychodelic element as an influence on culture.

[selena___]

Thank you for this. I loved this film

[rafaellino]

This guy could negotiate the Ukraine-Russia peace, he's such a diplomat. Perfect Hollywood writer. (this is not a snub. In many ways, just as he said, this is a KEY piece of the job!)

[VariTimo]

So weird to see your face. Not that it's bad.

[humbleopulence]

Did you ask him what he thought of Denis and the studio cutting out all of the best material from their script? I would... I'd like to know how betrayed he feels that the masterpiece he wrote with Denis ended up being so butchered in the final cut.

[jcpagain]

I have to be honest: It feels off-putting for me how David Poland doesn't seem to be genuinely excited about anything. There's always some sarcastic smirk about him - how he reacts to the interviewees, how he even seems a bit bitter about his past as a screenwriter... WHY? This should be about the damn interviewees and their views!

Also, it's very sad and ironic to me that the audio quality of these interviews is much better through the friggin' zoom software than in the in-person recordings! >:-( In those the sound can be anything - sometimes the interviewee's mic is coming from the left and Poland's voice on the right, sometimes everything is distorted to s***, sometimes the wind rumble makes the recording borderline unintelligible, sometimes the interviewee's hair gets into the damn mic capsule... Why hasn't there been any audio person helping with these interviews?

[tehdii]

I am starting to watch it... Dune is such a peculiar film, I do not want to sound toxic from the respect I have for you... but the film for me was "not great"... it lacked "a magical soul" for me ;( Joss Whedon Firefly is for me the gold standard, and The Nevers recently. You could made everything you described there in the film but sadly, someone was not skilled enough to actually make a good film from ideas. After Firefly, Serenity, Buffy or The Nevers, scenes when Wheedon creates a dynamism from interaction of heroes, I do not believe there is such a concept as "not filmable" :) Modern "films" are weak in story department, Star Trek Picard, Discovery, Star Wars, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, Matrix 4!... I am sorry but look at writers of the old, what have happened to story telling in most of the films? No one is teaching or understanding the old simple truths anymore... :(

p.s. As to the party you are describing in 21min, look at I think the 4th episode of the Nevers, Amalia and Lord Massen's Confrontation


everything can be done. I have goosbumps every time I am watching it ;)