Dune, Frank Herbert’s science-fiction masterpiece, is getting another shot at a film adaptation. Not only that, but the first novel of Herbert’s epic story will be split into two movies. Both will be helmed by Denis Villeneuve, a director who has dabbled in the science-fiction genre before. He was the mind behind 2016’s Arrival, which gives fans some hope of a successful Dune movie.
So far there is no news on casting or a specific release date, but Eric Roth will write the screenplay. Legendary Pictures currently owns the rights to the franchise and will have Thomas Tull, Mary Parent and Cale Boyter producing, Along with Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt and Kim Herbert serving as executive producers.
Legendary Pictures seems really intent on delivering a faithful adaptation of a book series that has proven difficult to succeed on the silver screen. The first attempt came out in 1984 and was directed by David Lynch, one of the most iconic and highly regarded directors in cinema. But even he struggled to create a quality Dune picture. The film was heavily panned, with critics pointing out some of the cheap effects and how it tried too hard to fit so much story and character development into a two hour run-time.
For a while, it seemed as if Dune would be a novel that would be considered unfilmable, but Denis Villeneuve and Legendary Pictures are hoping to change that. The original book contained too much content to cover in one movie. Splitting the film into two parts will allow the story to breath and the characters to naturally develop over time, something the 1984 version lacked.
I really hope they can pull it off, and I’m looking forward to how the motion picture will look visually. We’ll just have to wait and see if this will continue to shape up to be a good flick.
