Culture news The sandworm from Dune 2 really existed: Denis Villeneuve and Frank Herbert didn’t invent anything!
Terminator plants the T-800. Alien trembles in front of the xenomorph. Detroit can thank RoboCop. Many science fiction sagas have a legendary creature from the 7th Art and/or literature as their luxury sales representative. The Dune saga is no exception to the rule with its iconic sandworm from the planet Arrakis. However, this mythical being is not a 100% original creation. The sandworm really existed on Earth.
From myth to reality
Reality is often more terrifying and more creative than fiction. The legendary sandworm that sows terror on the surface of the planet Arrakis did indeed exist on Earth several hundred million years ago. A scientist who sees a definite parallel between the Selkirkia worm and the Shai-Hulud of Dune, commented:
No matter what savagery you see on screen, I guarantee there is something in nature, even if it is long extinct, that is far more horrific. – Dr. Nanglu
In the Cambrian era (500 million years BC), creatures resembling those imagined by Frank Herbert populated the seabed. And that’s not all. A recent discovery has proven that a similar species was still alive after the Cambrian explosion. This study by Dr. Karma Nanglu and colleagues revealed that Selkirkia worms were present in the geographical area where Morocco was located during the Ordovician period.
The analysis of fossils preserved at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology has notably shed light on the longevity of this species. Depending on the deposit studied, Representatives of these worms date back to 488 million years BC and lasted for the next 25 million years. Dr Nanglu said: “We don’t expect any more to exist.” With its head covered in curved spines, this creature whose limbs measured only a few centimeters long was a threat to small invertebrates and displayed a capacity for survival that is beyond human comprehension.
Steven Spielberg captivated by a scene from Dune 2
For Steven Spielberg, Dune Part II directed by Denis Villeneuve is nothing less than “one of the most brilliant science fiction films he has ever seen”. The filmmaker behind Jurassic Park and War of the Worlds even considers one of the scenes to be one of the most beautiful things he has ever seen on film.… of his entire career and his entire cinephilia. This sequence is none other than the one where Paul Atréides played by Timothée Chalamet surfs a sandworm for the first time.
It’s a story that loves the desert, but for a film that loves the desert, there is such a longing for water in this film. Despite all the sand in this film, it’s really about water. The sacred waters that long for green meadows and the blue water of life. You film the desert to make it look like an ocean, like a sea. The sandworms were like sea serpents. And that scene where we’re surfing on the sandworms is one of the most beautiful things that I have never seen. Never ! But you made the desert look like liquid. -Steven Spielberg