Before Lynch's version, several attempts to adapt Dune failed, including one by producer Arthur P. Jacobs (who died in 1973 with David Lean still attached to direct) and another by Alejandro Jodorowsky, whose planned 10-to-14-hour epic collapsed when funding disappeared.

Jodorowsky's abandoned production had assembled a bizarre potential cast including Salvador Dalí as the Emperor, Orson Welles as Baron Harkonnen, Mick Jagger as Feyd-Rautha, and David Carradine as Leto Atreides.

Although Jodorowsky's Dune was never made, the elaborate storyboard book created to pitch it circulated widely in Hollywood and influenced later sci-fi films such as Star Wars, The Terminator, Flash Gordon and especially Alien, which shared much of the same visual design team.

Ridley Scott was attached to direct Dune in 1979 and worked on three script drafts intending to split the novel into two films, but he dropped out after about seven months, partly because his brother's death from cancer made him unwilling to commit the two-and-a-half years the project would require; he then moved on to direct Blade Runner.

Frank Herbert himself wrote an early screenplay draft in 1978 for producer Dino De Laurentiis that ran 175 pages, equivalent to nearly three hours of screen time.

David Lynch was chosen to direct after producer Raffaella De Laurentiis saw his film The Elephant Man; at the time Lynch, who had not previously heard of the novel, also received other directing offers including Return of the Jedi.

Actors who auditioned or screen-tested for the role of Paul Atreides included Tom Cruise, Kevin Costner, Kenneth Branagh and Val Kilmer, with Kilmer being the top choice until Kyle MacLachlan's screen test won him the role in his film debut.

Aldo Ray was originally cast as Gurney Halleck but was replaced by Patrick Stewart due to his alcoholism, while Glenn Close tested for Lady Jessica but lost the role to Francesca Annis, and Helena Bonham Carter had to drop out of playing Princess Irulan due to scheduling conflicts with A Room with a View.

Filming took place entirely in Mexico, mainly at Churubusco Studios, chosen for its favorable exchange rate and because no European studio had the space for the production's 80 sets built across 16 sound stages, with a crew of 1,700 and over 20,000 extras.

Production ran for at least six months and was plagued by problems such as failing electricity and communication lines due to Mexico's infrastructure, as well as health issues among cast and crew.

David Lynch appears in an uncredited cameo as a spice worker in the film.

Lynch's rough cut ran over four hours, but Universal expected a two-hour film; the producers and Lynch cut it down to under three hours, added voice-over narration and a new introduction by Virginia Madsen to simplify the plot.

Dissatisfied with the studio-mandated changes, Lynch disowned an extended 1988 television version, having his director credit changed to the pseudonym Alan Smithee and his writing credit changed to Judas Booth.

Dune grossed only $30.9 million against a budget of $40-42 million, making it a box-office failure that has since been nicknamed the 'Heaven's Gate of science fiction'.

Because a planned Dune franchise was expected, many props were kept in storage and Kyle MacLachlan signed for a two-film deal, with Lynch beginning a screenplay for a sequel based on Dune Messiah; all sequel plans were canceled after the film's failure.

The film's soundtrack was composed by the rock band Toto, with an additional contribution from Brian Eno.