Hollywood studios would only let
Alejandro Jodorowsky make the film provided that it would be 1h 50 mins long. Jodorowsky declined, reportedly stating that he wanted to make approximately a 15 hour long film. This is a common misconception- he never planned that the actual movie was going to be 15-20 hours, he made this statement in a fit of passion that his artistry would not be confined or compromised by a running time restriction (the studios were asking for 90-120 min running time for profit reasons) asserting that he will make the film as long as he wants it to be, and not because some suit wants more money. While the "Dune Book" being a massive tome; held a script, a full storyboard, and numerous conceptual designs and art work with a budget breakdown it's easy to assume and misconstrued that the finished product would have been over 12 hours.