H.R. Giger's Harkonnen Castle design finally seen in Prometheus
Hyperdome, Undefined, 12 years ago
Great news for sci-fi fans of Alejandro Jodorowsky's legendary unmade film, DUNE! It appears from this photo leaked a couple of days ago that after 37 years, we will see H.R. Giger's Harkonnen Castle design finally realized, transplanted from Arrakis to the planet surface of Ridley Scott's Prometheus.
Three years before the original Alien, Dan O'Bannon, working as Jodorowski's director of special effects, supervised a team of artist to help visualize the Frank Herbert best seller for the cult Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky. The group included the creative triad of Jean 'Moebius' Giraud, H.R. Giger and Chris Foss. When after two years the overly ambitious project collapsed, O'Bannon went on to write the screenplay for Alien with Ron Shusett and later, when Ridley Scott was hired to direct, O'Bannon knew exactly which concept artists to suggest to the director for the landmark design of the movie. Yes, Giger, Moebius and Foss. For those who are unfamiliar with the Unseen Dune it's all here http://www.duneinfo.com/unseen, including the story of Giger's involvement in glorious detail. It is summed up best by Ryan Lambie here:
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/1243533/the_fall_and_rise_of_alejandro_jodorowskys_dune.html
Three years before the original Alien, Dan O'Bannon, working as Jodorowski's director of special effects, supervised a team of artist to help visualize the Frank Herbert best seller for the cult Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky. The group included the creative triad of Jean 'Moebius' Giraud, H.R. Giger and Chris Foss. When after two years the overly ambitious project collapsed, O'Bannon went on to write the screenplay for Alien with Ron Shusett and later, when Ridley Scott was hired to direct, O'Bannon knew exactly which concept artists to suggest to the director for the landmark design of the movie. Yes, Giger, Moebius and Foss. For those who are unfamiliar with the Unseen Dune it's all here http://www.duneinfo.com/unseen, including the story of Giger's involvement in glorious detail. It is summed up best by Ryan Lambie here:
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/1243533/the_fall_and_rise_of_alejandro_jodorowskys_dune.html
Praetorian, Undefined, 12 years ago
Thanks for the excellent info.
I'm a big fan of Giger and although I liked Dune I always thought it was a shame that this work wasnt used.
Nice that we're finally going to see it.
I'm a big fan of Giger and although I liked Dune I always thought it was a shame that this work wasnt used.
Nice that we're finally going to see it.
PREDATORv2, Undefined, 12 years ago
Good to know hes going to be included in this project, seeing how the alien and jockeys are his babies.
daveberg, Undefined, 12 years ago
Giger was indeed brought in on a small scale, but looks like a lot of the set pieces are heavily influenced by his works.
Fantastic.
Fantastic.
Hyperdome, Undefined, 12 years ago
Additional text to previous post,
"Although Dune’s collapse left its collaborators despondent in the aftermath – Dan O’Bannon returned to the US, emotionally shattered and penniless in 1975 – the project was indirectly responsible for several happier events. Had O’Bannon never been involved in Dune, he may never have formed a partnership with Ronald Shusett, with whom he co-wrote the original story for Alien. Had Salvador Dali never mentioned the name HR Giger to Jodorowsky, it’s far less likely that the Swiss artist and O’Bannon would have met, either – and without Giger, the Alien creature we all recognise today would never have been born."
"Although Dune’s collapse left its collaborators despondent in the aftermath – Dan O’Bannon returned to the US, emotionally shattered and penniless in 1975 – the project was indirectly responsible for several happier events. Had O’Bannon never been involved in Dune, he may never have formed a partnership with Ronald Shusett, with whom he co-wrote the original story for Alien. Had Salvador Dali never mentioned the name HR Giger to Jodorowsky, it’s far less likely that the Swiss artist and O’Bannon would have met, either – and without Giger, the Alien creature we all recognise today would never have been born."
supersonicman96, Undefined, 12 years ago
Giger, always amazing us with his art and designs.
DeathWraith, Undefined, 12 years ago
So what this means is, if Dune had been made, Alien would never had become what it is today?
Hyperdome, Undefined, 12 years ago
Not only Alien would never had become what it is today, it probably would never had been made in the first place. None of the sequels, and no AVP Universe. Sorry. The careers of everyone involved in the series would have taken an entirely different turn. Think about it. If Dune HAD been made, O'Bannon would have stayed in Europe for the next two years working on the film and would have made enough money, so when he returned to California he would have been able to afford his own place instead of being forced to crash on Ron Shusset's couch, thereby avoiding the circumstances that led to their collaboration on the script for Alien. In all likelihood, then there would be no BLADERUNNER either! Valaquen did an expert forensics analysis of this last year on this blog http://alienseries.blogspot.com/2011/01/creating-alien-planet.html. Alejandro Jodorowsky's DUNE started it ALL.
DarkCountess, Undefined, 12 years ago
Looks like a Xenomorph head with some type of futuristic weapon on the back of it. Nice design though.
Gaunt, Undefined, 12 years ago
It's certainly food for thought, that castle/dome looks almost like a giant, curled Xenomorph, but that would be silly.
... right?
... right?