Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: dune, frank miller statue, The Spice DAO

Frank Miller's Investors Sell Dune Storyboards For $2.5 Million Loss

The Spice DAO is best known for buying one of Jodorowsky's Dune script bibles for $2.66 million. Niow they have sold it for under $100,000.

Published Fri, 04 Aug 2023 14:33:07 -0500

by Rich Johnston

Last updated Sat, 05 Aug 2023 05:58:57 -0500

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Bleeding Cool scooped the news last year over how the new comics publisher Frank Miller Presents was funded by NFT company from Soban Saqib, The Spice DAO, as their "exclusive Web3 partner". And that The Spice DAO is a group of around 800 genre-enthusiasts and best known for crowdfunding to buy one of Jodorowsky's Dune script bibles at auction for $2.66 million, a set of storyboards including work by comic book artist Moebius of a treatment for the movie Dune based on the Frank Herbert novel that was never made. And it was part of an aim to become one of the crypto world's first successful production houses. Founded by Soban Saqib and other cryptocurrency enthusiasts, Spice DAO raised $12 million in cryptocurrency to create an "animated space opera", an "original animated limited series inspired by the book" – though this won't actually be Dune – they don't have those rights.

Well, it looks like they may be in need of some non-crypto money. As they have sold those Dune storyboards again at auction, but this time only managed to raise $90,625. Which is a good price, comparatively, but quite a loss overall, of over two-and-a-half million dollars.

Originally, the group wrote on their forum that they hoped to sell NFTs of the Dune book before burning it, saying, "The goal is to issue a collection of NFTs that are technically innovative and culturally disruptive. A first-of-a-kind" before doing a flammable impersonation of the KLF with an "incredible marketing stunt which could be recorded on video. The video even sold as an NFT itself." Well, the first wasn't legally acceptable, and the second clearly was inconceivable. So an auction it is. And to be fair, the copy went for more than other comparable copies in the past. Just not as much as they paid two years ago.

The Dune storyboard is one of ten copies with original drawings by Moebius and H.R. Giger but has been extensively scanned and made available online. Here are a few photos of the version that was up for auction this time.