How Dune Author Brian Herbert Feels About The Timothée Chalamet Movies

Brian Herbert took over writing the "Dune" novels after his father, Frank Herbert, passed away. As such, he's the closest we'll ever get to an official Herbert seal of approval when it comes to the big screen "Dune" adaptations. Fortunately, it turns out he's a big fan of Denis Villeneuve's first two movies. In a 2024 Facebook post, Brian Herbert even proclaimed Villeneuve's duology to be the "best film interpretation" of his father's original novel.

"Dune" was supposedly the "unfilmable" sci-fi epic that no filmmaker could wrangle into a cohesive movie. Then, Villeneuve came along and proved that view entirely wrong. Still, it's not hard to see why such a view persisted for so long. Not only was Frank Herbert's 1965 novel a considerable, lore-dense tome to say the least, many attempts had been made to successfully adapt it for the screen with less than impressive results. That said, every "Dune" adaptation had its charms, but Villeneuve's "Dune: Part One" and "Dune: Part Two" (which hit theaters in 2021 and 2024, respectively) would have made Herbert proud, merely for cramming his expansive story into two well-crafted and, most importantly, comprehensible blockbusters.

Of course, we'll never know Frank Herbert's actual opinion on Villeneuve's duology. The esteemed author passed away back in 1986, two years after David Lynch delivered his much maligned take on the source material with 1984's "Dune." Happily, Herbert's feelings about Lynch's "Dune" were actually surprising, with the writer praising the director for preserving the most crucial aspect of his original story. Today, however, the author's son is the one delivering the official Herbert take on movie adaptations, and it seems the writer is quite pleased with Villeneuve's efforts.

Throughout film history, plenty of authors have hated the movie adaptations of their books, from Roald Dahl dismissing "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" to Stephen King's infamous rejection of Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining." Thankfully, Frank Herbert actually liked David Lynch's take on "Dune," and now his son seems similarly pleased with Denis Villeneuve's films.

In his Facebook post, Brian Herbert revealed that he'd attended a private screening of "Dune: Part Two" and was ready to confirm Villeneuve's two-part adaptation as the best yet. "It is gratifying to see my father's story told with such great care," he wrote. "When the new movie is combined with 'Dune: Part One' it is by far the best film interpretation of Frank Herbert's classic novel 'DUNE' that has ever been done."

If you thought the original "Dune" novel was a little too lore-heavy, then you'll almost certainly balk at the state of the Dune-verse as a whole today. The fictional universe covers roughly 15,000 years of history told over dozens of novels. Frank Herbert authored six of those books himself, but his son partnered with author Kevin J. Anderson to produce an additional 20 books, including multiple short stories and novellas. There's even a book of "Dune"-inspired poems by Frank Herbert. At this point, Brian Herbert and Anderson are responsible for the bulk of stories set within the "Dune"-verse, making the younger Herbert more than qualified to provide his opinion on how Villeneuve handled the adaptations of his father's original book.

It's not all that surprising to hear that Brian Herbert was a fan of the modern "Dune" movies. Not only did Denis Villeneuve produce the definitive adaptation with his duology, Frank Herbert's son provided input on the "Dune" scripts. In fact, Brian Herbert was involved from the outset, advising producers Mary Parent and Cale Boyer to always keep "the demands of discriminating 'Dune' fans" in mind while searching for a director. Once that director had been found, Brian Herbert began communicating with screenwriter Eric Roth about the creative vision for "Dune: Part One," remaining involved as the final screenplay came together.

In that sense, Brian Herbert, who collaborated with his father on several non-"Dune" books including 1986's "Man of Two Worlds," was always going to be at least somewhat pleased with the final product. But it's still a testament to Villeneuve and Roth's respect for the original Frank Herbert novel that their first two "Dune" movies turned out as well as they did. Both are faithful to the "Dune" book while also taking a few well-executed liberties and trimming down the mythology to make the story more accessible to moviegoers.

Now, we wait to see if Villeneuve can repeat that success with the upcoming "Dune: Part Three," an adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1969 novel "Dune Messiah" (which was originally conceived as a retort to readers who saw "Dune" protagonist Paul Atreides as a hero). With Brian Herbert producing, no doubt he will ensure the threequel remains just as faithful to his father's vision.