In 1975, Dan O'Bannon was supervising special effects for the Alexandro Jodorowsky production of Dune, based on the bestselling novel by Frank Herbert. The project was going to be massive and only the best designers would do. He rang Cobb to be part of the team. O'Bannon describes the project as a wonderful dream, part of which came true. That part O'Bannon says, "...was the gathering together of the best fantasy artists in the world, putting them in one room, and having them design the movie."
But even the efforts of artists such as Jean "Moebius" Giraud of France, Chris Foss of England, and H.R. Giger of Switzerland could'nt save the ambitious project. Unfortunately O'Bannon and Cobb were left homeless when the production collapsed.
DAN O'BANNON: It is 1975 and I am in Paris supervising special effects for the Alexandro Jodorowsky production of Dune. I have been promised that I can hire any designers I need, so I immediately ask for Cobb. Transatlantic phone calls are made, and a date is set for Cobb's transfer to Paris. Cobb and his wife pack their bags, the date arrives, but no plane ticket. The producers have pushed back the date, because of the delays in overall production.
Fine, says Cobb, we really need the extra time to settle our affairs. A new date is set, it arrives, and passes. More phone calls. Altogether, Cobb and his wife were packed and ready to get on a plane for about three months. They had terminated the lease on their apartment. This was the position I had gotten Cobb and Robin into when Dune collapsed completely, like a pile of rotten sticks.
It collapsed so badly that I ended up in L.A. without any money, without an apartment, without a car, with half my belongings back in Paris and the other half in storage.
