A painting by HR Giger for Alejandro Jodorowsky's 'Dune'. Giger was not very well known at the time - he only became famous with 'Alien' (1979).
sony pictures classics
The storyboard that Jodorowsky created with the comic artist Moebius.
sony pictures classics
Harkonnen himself was to be played by Orson Welles, but nothing came of it.
sony pictures classics
Another of Giger's depictions of the planet Harkonnen for 'Dune'
sony pictures classics
Design for a pirate spaceship by Chris Foss. The British artist was known at the time for the cover illustrations of many science fiction books, including Isaac Asimov's bestseller.
sony pictures classics
Sketch by Chris Foss for another spaceship.
sony pictures classics
A scene from David Lynch's 1984 version of 'Dune'. Although this production has nothing to do with Jodorowsky's project, the film's set leans heavily on the sci-fi imagery of Moebius, Giger, Floss and others.
Credit: Aa Film Archive / Alamy Stock Photo
HR Giger, surrounded by his sculptures and paintings in Zurich in 1995.
Keystone / Martin Ruetschi
A page from Jodorowsky's epic 'Dune' storyboard, of which there were only ten copies.
Afp Or Licensors
In 2013 Frank Pavich made a documentary about the unmade film.
Credit: Collection Christophel / Alamy Stock Photo
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.