Peter Berg will direct a big-screen adaptation of the Frank Herbert classic sci-fi novel Dune for Paramount Pictures.
Berg previously directed The Kingdom, Friday Night Lights, and the upcoming Will Smith film Hancock.
Dune was first adapted as a feature film in 1984 by director David Lynch, and in 2000 as a miniseries for the SCI FI Channel.
The 1965 award-winning novel takes place in a futuristic intergalactic setting where the spice called melange is a highly valuable and multi-purpose item, but can only be obtained on the desert planet Arrakis. In a plot to destroy one of the galaxy’s ruling houses, the Emperior sends the Atreides family to Arrakis where they face great dangers. What happens there incites the young Paul Atreides, who it has been prophetized is destined for greatness, to seek revenge on his enemies.
Producing the Berg-directed Dune remake, which Paramount foresees as a tentpole film, will be Kevin Misher, who spent the past year obtaining the book rights from the Herbert estate. Also producing are Richard Rubenstein (who produced the Dune miniseries and its sequel Children of Dune) as well as Sarah Aubrey. John Harrison and Mike Messina will executive produce. The producers are looking for writers who will script a faithful adaptation of award-winning book.
Late last year before the writers strike was settled, Berg told MTV about his plans for Dune and said about Lynch’s film that “that interpretation has left the door wide open for a remake.” The director had confessed to being a huge fan of the book and said that his adaptation would be “big big big.”
[Source: Variety]
So this will be the third time– Well, let’s see what happens.
Book is unfilmable. At least it is for a brain-dead movie-going market.
[...] Peter Berg to direct ‘Dune’ [...]
This is gonna suck so bad.
Whaaaat? Listen. There isn’t enough film stock in the world to shoot a proper Dune adaptation. It’s an epic, sprawling and sometimes painfully slow-moving piece of science fiction. I love it and would love to see it faithfully brought to screen but when you’re working for Hollywood and spending shitloads of cash on huge sci-fi movies, you have to appeal to the wider audience who really don’t give a shit about Frank Herbert. They just want to see mixed martial arts and things blowing up. There’s plenty of pulpy sci-fi crap on the shelves that can meet those demands. Why Dune?
well I am certainly not going to hold out any hope for this being good. I quite liked the original film, although you certainly can’t compare it to the books in any way, shape or form. Dune has to be one of the hardest books/series out there to film. There is so much importance in the books placed on the thoughts and motivations of the characters that simply can’t be expressed faithfully in film without several hours of inner monologues which today’s movie going public just don’t care for. Bryan just about hit the nail on the head with the MMA and explosions comment. The attention span, not to mention the intelligence, of the average movie going punter these days is small to say the least.
Why adapt Dune yet again? With so many great books waiting in libraries? I believe that the first Sci-Fi mini series was satisfactory, and it almost made me forget about what the studio did to David Lynch the first time around. Lets not get messy by mentioning the second mini-series, ok?
I deem this completely unnecessary and still dream for the day they decide to adapt the Foundation saga or maybe the early entries in the Dragonriders of Pern novels.