The Making of Dune, the Sci-Fi Classic Film by David Lynch

Even with a budget the size of an Arrakeen sandworm ($43 million), the business of bringing Frank Herbert's Dune to the screen was not as easy as it might seem. Director David Lynch was confronted with the prospect of having to satisfy both an anxious cult following with preconceived ideas, and a curious but initiated mainstream audience. Literary legend though it may be, Herbert's often metaphysical descriptions of the Dune world made the visual translation from mental image to screen image a difficult undertaking. And, unfortunately, Herbert's novel did not include a set of "Spice Harvester" blueprints or a "stillsuit" pattern.

With few exceptions, filming took place at Mexico's Churubusco Studios, one of the largest studios in the world. By the close of principal photography, all eight of Churubusco's sound stages had been utilized and more than 75 enormous sets had been built, struck and replaced. The project also required an extensive cross section of personnel, numbering over 1,000 people. Extras, mostly Mexican, exceeded 20,000 and the principal cast, which includes such international notables as Francesca McGill, Kenneth MacMillan, Sean Young, Kyle MacLachlan, Max Von Sydow and Sting, had a total of 39 speaking parts.