20 Things You Didn’t Know About Dune
4. It’s The Best-selling Sci-fi Book Of All Time
It’s hard to believe now but Dune had a bit of a rocky start on its original 1965 release; probably due to its enormous length and the fact a car manual company published it. Selling at the equivalent of $50 in today's money, the book was such an initial flop critically and commercially the publishing agent in charge of staking it was fired from The Chilton Book Company.
In spite of this, good old-fashioned word of mouth saved the novel and its popularity began to skyrocket in the following years. No word on whether or not that poor publishing agent got his job back, however.
The various adaptations over the years, from Lynch to Villeneuve, also helped the book’s sales; each subsequent release boosting acquisitions each time, selling 10’s of millions of copies since release. Dune has been translated into at least 14 languages and most recently being re-released in a movie tie-in format; it’s fair to say this immense work will still be around in the decades to come.