This Highly-Rated Dune Miniseries Is Almost Impossible To Watch
Dune fever is once again sweeping the planet thanks to the release of Denis Villeneuve's "Dune: Part Two." And yet, one major adaptation of Frank Herbert's psychedelic sci-fi universe has practically vanished entirely. While fans of the recent films await more details about the upcoming spin-off series, "Dune: Prophecy," many of them likely don't know that the Dune novels have been adapted for television once before — or, technically, twice.
In 2000, Syfy, then known as the Sci Fi Channel, aired a three-part miniseries called "Frank Herbert's Dune." It was the second screen adaptation of the first novel in the series, following David Lynch's 1984 film. With each episode clocking in at around an hour and a half, it's a way more in-depth adaptation, and it remains one of the most-watched Syfy broadcasts of all time.
While the miniseries may not have had the budget of a major Hollywood film, it looked good for the time and had a strong cast, anchored by William Hurt as Duke Leto Atreides. The adaptation was received so well that in 2003, the network aired a sequel series titled "Frank Herbert's Children of Dune." This second three-episode run adapted both "Dune Messiah" and "Children of Dune," bringing in Susan Sarandon for some extra star power and putting a young James McAvoy in the role of Leto II Atreides. To this day, "Frank Herbert's Children of Dune" remains the only screen adaptation of any Dune books past the first one. Sadly, though, watching either it or its predecessor these days is a difficult task.
How to watch the Syfy Dune miniseries
If you're interested in checking out either Syfy Dune miniseries to compare them to the recent movies, there are certainly ways, but they aren't exactly straightforward. At the time of this writing, neither "Frank Herbert's Dune" nor "Frank Herbert's Children of Dune" exists on any major streaming platform. The second series is available on Hoopla, a lesser-known service that includes audiobooks and ebooks in addition to movies and TV shows. Fortunately, Hoopla is technically a library service, so you can make a free account using a card number from a participating public library. The first miniseries is harder to track down, however.
Neither is available for digital rental, but there are some DVD and Blu-ray copies available on Amazon. These are mostly used copies, some of which go for between $40 and $50. Each series can also be found in an Australian Blu-ray version.
The simplest way to watch either miniseries may be YouTube, where all six episodes have been uploaded by various channels. Since these unofficial uploads have been up for a couple of years, it seems that the rights holders aren't too interested in having them taken down, but their legality is still iffy. The video quality also obviously won't be as good as that of the streaming or Blu-ray options.
Could we finally get a new adaptation of the later Dune novels?
For more than 20 years, "Frank Herbert's Children of Dune" has been the only completed attempt at adapting any books in the series past the first one. But given how successful Denis Villeneuve's films have been, it's highly likely that we'll finally get another version in the next few years. Villeneuve has spoken openly about his desire to adapt "Dune Messiah," though he's less emphatic about "Children of Dune." For now, though, there's been no official announcement that the threequel is happening.
Fans maybe shouldn't expect "Dune 3" anytime soon, but it seems more likely than not at this point. If we do get it, it could be quite different from both Herbert's original novel and the 2003 Syfy adaptation. "Dune: Part Two" makes some big changes to the book, and some of those changes could have major impacts on an adaptation of "Messiah." For instance, Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and Chani (Zendaya) have a lot more friction throughout "Dune: Part Two" than they do in the novel. Since their relationship is at the heart of "Dune Messiah," and since Chani seems entirely frustrated by Paul by the end of the second movie, things could be quite different in Villeneuve's adaptation.
Regardless of the details, it would be great to see someone new take a crack at the later books in the series. Villeneuve and his team have proven that they're more than capable of bringing Arrakis to the big screen in stunning fashion, and few would complain if they were to get another shot.