Dune: Arrival Director Attached to New Film
It looks like filmmaker Denis Villeneuve might finally get his wish. The Academy Award nominated filmmaker, who just received a nomination for Best Director for his film Arrival, is now apparently attached to helm a prospective new film adaptation for Dune, based on Frank Herbert’s seminal science fiction novel. Villeneuve has long been a fan of Herbert’s Dune and has wanted to make a new film for quite some time. The news was announced by the late Frank Herbert’s son, Brian Herbert, on Twitter, which you can see below.
Villeneuve’s next film is Blade Runner 2049, which is a sequel to the heralded 1980s cyber-punk thriller Blade Runner. He’s also renowned for his work on Sicario. Previously, Legendary Pictures acquired the film and TV rights to Dune. How that will take shape is an absolute mystery.
Hollywood has been kicking around a new film adaptation of Dune for quite some time with little success. The project has passed through a number of studios and directors, including Peter Berg and Pierre Morel. So, Villeneuve’s current deal might not even be a guarantee it gets made. The film still has to go through the script stage, and then get budgeted before getting the green light, which could take years. A new Dune movie, with its future setting, interplanetary travel, alien life forms and other concepts would not be cheap.
Dune was previously adapted into a 1984 feature by renowned filmmaker David Lynch. It was later adapted into a Sci-Fi channel miniseries in 2000. The miniseries also received a continuation several years later.
Herbert wrote six novels in his Dune series, starting with the original, published in 1965.
It's official — Legendary Pictures has signed the very talented Denis Villeneuve to direct the exciting new DUNE series film project.
— Brian Herbert (@DuneAuthor) February 1, 2017