A GROUP of cryptocurrency tycoons who spent $3million (£2.2million) buying a copy of a book about an attempt to make the Dune novel into a film have been left disappointed.
The crypto group, called Spice DAO, thought the hefty purchase would allow them to make the notebook public but social media users soon revealed their expensive error.
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Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky attempted to make the Dune novel into a film in the 1970s.
He ultimately failed and his notebook containing concepts and artwork of how the book could be adapted was auctioned last year.
The notebook was made famous by a 2013 documentary about the struggle to make the 1965 science fiction novel by American author Frank Herbert into a film.
There’s only believed to be around 10 copies of the notebook in the world.
Previously, copies of the notebook have sold for around $30,000 (£22,000) but the Spice DAO group spent a whopping $3million on the copy auctioned last year.
The group tweeted on January 15: “We won the auction for €2.66M. Now our mission is to: 1. Make the book public (to the extent permitted by law)
“2. Produce an original animated limited series inspired by the book and sell it to a streaming service.
“3. Support derivative projects from the community”.
They also revealed plans to sell NFTs of the book before burning it.
However, other Twitter users were quick to pick flaws in these plans.
It turns out the notebook has been free to access online for years.
One person tweeted: “If anyone is curious, the Jodorowsky Dune pitch book’s been available for free online for years. It’s beautiful.”
Another added: “This book has been available online in complete form for free for years.”
Fans of the Dune series also pointed out that owning the notebook doesn’t mean they automatically have the copyright to make content based on it.
One person said: “You bought a collectable for 100X estimated value.
“Do you think if you bought a Spider-Man comic you could start making Spider-Man movies as well?”
The expensive error has also inspired a host of memes that are appearing online.
If you want to see the notebook for yourself, just click this Google Photos link.
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In other news, China has built an ‘artificial moon’ to train its astronauts for future missions.
A rugby ball-shaped planet has been spotted outside our Solar System and scientists are calling it deformed.
And, Nasa thinks the James Webb Space Telescope will likely be hit by space debris.
