Jodorowsky's aborted Dune storyboard sold for € 2.66 million at auction

The working document of the Franco-Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky for his accursed adaptation project of

was awarded on Monday for 2.66 million euros (costs included) at Christie's in Paris, well beyond the estimate.

A mythical object for science fiction enthusiasts, this large book dating from the mid-1970s was only estimated

by the auction house.

Read also A rare copy of the storyboard of the

by Alejandro Jodorowsky estimated at 35,000 euros at auction

“The estimate had to take into account the reality of the market that we discover totally upset by the current theatrical success of

Dune

observed the auction house.

The auctions quickly flew and ultimately gave rise to a tough battle between two foreign bidders, over the phone.

The winning bidder is American.

A colossal project

In the form of drawings, the storyboard brings together the plans of what should have been the film never made, for lack of funding. Alain Delon, Mick Jagger and Salvador Dali were expected in the main roles. These worksheets are signed by a comic book star, the Frenchman Moebius alias Jean Giraud, who died in 2012, and by the Swiss illustrator HR Giger, who died in 2014, who will then create the creature of the film

(1979). Both were to provide the artistic direction of this titanic project and their storyboard was intended to

,

according to Christie's.

Jodorowsky's

ideas of the

Aborted

have influenced other science fiction films, such as

(1977) or

(1982).

ALAIN JOCARD / AFP

"We are aware of a few other copies: one was offered at auction a few years ago, another is in the possession of Jodorowksy (...) and a third is partially reproduced online,"

said the

house.

.

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A figure of the counter-culture today in his nineties, author of the experimental and psychedelic films

(1970) and

(1973), Jodorowsky had seen very big for

.

He expected between ten and fifteen hours of film.

According to film specialists, the ideas in gestation for

Jodorowsky's

have influenced major films like

(1977) or

(1982).

The first book in a cult science fiction cycle written by the American Frank Herbert in 1965,

returned to the spotlight this year thanks to the film Denis Villeneuve made, after David Lynch's version. in 1984.