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Comment RSSWho Will Direct The Dune Remake?
29.10.09 # Remake # 17 Comments
A new version of Frank Herbert’s Hugo and Nubula award winning science fiction Dune has been talked about for a while and rumours over who will direct it are circulating. Paramount are looking for a director who is passionate about the project and who has the creative vision to pull it off. The two names that have recently popped up are Neil Marshall (The Descent) and Neill Blomkamp (District 9) with Marshall apparently being the favoured of the two. I know if I had to chose between the two of them it would be Blomkamp I would go for. He’s proven he can pull off spectacular and intelligent sci-fi on a relatively small budget whereas Marshall’s best work has been his low budget British horrors Dog Soldiers and The Descent, good films but on a small scale.
Although the 1984 David Lynch version of Dune has its many fans there is definitely room for improvement. The film is undoubtedly jumbled and hard to follow (for those unfamilliar with the book anyway) and Lynch has distanced himself from the finished product because he wasn’t given full creative control. Lynch has not returned to big budget blockbuster filmmaking since and even shunned the opportunity to do a director’s cut of the film.
If you are clued up on the remake of Dune you might be thinking, hang on wasn’t Peter Berg meant to be directing? Well the Hancock director has dropped out to concentrate on other projects including the sequel to Hancock and Battleship, a film version of the Hasbro boardgame. Seems odd that he’d drop out of directing Dune to concentrate on the seemingly bland idea of Battleship the movie, however he’s not the only director turning to board games for inspiration at the moment. Ridley Scott has a film version of Monopoly in the works and Martin Scorsese is rumoured to be working on an adaptation of Hungry Hungry Hippos. Ok I may have just invented that rumour, but I kind of hope Mr Scorsese reads this and makes it happen anyway.
Source: Collider
I agree that Neill Blomkamp is a much stronger choice.
I’ve never seen Dune, am I missing out?
This was a great movie..I hope they remake it. Children of Dune was good also.
don’t watch it, read it. the closest call for the Dune universe atmosphere was the SciFi mini-series, though, so if you want to see what Dune is all about…start there
I agree…if they wanna do a Dune remake they just need to make it a miniseries on the sy-fy channel of something. Battlestar Galactica would have made a better movie.
The original Dune was very confusing & boring when I saw it in ’85 but I was so perplexed by it that I read every book about about the Dune universe. Looking back I was a child hoping to see the next Star Wars but it was very different in that its meant for an adult audience. There are many erotic and drug references throughout the novels. However I disagree that the miniseries was better. The costumes were ridiculous and the low budget din’t do it justice, plus the acting wasn’t up to par. The way to watch it is to see the ’85 Dune extended cut that also aired on Syfy
I really enjoyed the David Lynch movie and thought it captured some of the characters from the book really well. In the book there is a lot of thought dialogue and Lynch tried to capture this. The sets were great and the special effects were pretty awesome for its time. The acting was definitely better than the mini series. It would be hard to translate the book anyway as it can be so outlandish and bizarre.
After having read all 14 books in the series, I think there is a good case for starting right at the beginning with the Brian Herbert & Kevin Anderson stories, if you haven’t read them I really recommend them. These could be made into the most awesome blockbusters with themes that would really resonate with today’s society issues and they have some really deep characters that you fall in love with, not all of them heroes either.
The problem is you cant really just make Dune, it is more than just one book, it is a whole legacy and universe that has to be understood from start to finish to really understand what Dune is about. I don’t think a mini series is the way to go tho, too small, this is a blockbuster series that should look like a blockbuster series. Kevin Anderson was the Star Wars writer so…………………….
The should just make it a tv series.
Dune was a brilliant movie. I hope they don’t mess up a remake.
(I should admit that I never read the book though, I just enjoy Lynch’s quirkiness)
In the novel Paul and Feyd Rautha were 15 & 16 yr olds. Kyle MacLachlan and Sting with his winged codpiece were hardly anywhere near that age. In the miniseries the young man they got to play a blond Paul only came off as a bratty pissed off kid. The Atreides line were of Mediterranean descent the series had Paul and his dad appear as Nordic blonds.
And whats up with a wimpy Lady Jessica screaming so much in both adaptations? I thought the Bene Genesserit were a sect of ultra serene, kick-ass ninja nun types. And I’ve always been eager to see an ornithopter in flight and was disappointed by the film version. If they can find designers who can stop thinking Star Wars or Nordic Lord of the Rings elves and grandiose water falls the story may have a decent chance.
I’m of that rare breed that actually liked the Lynch version of Dune as a kid, despite its (huge) flaws and stupid liberties (sound weapons, really? WTF?!). But the Sci-Fi (I refuse to call it SyFy) version was just bland, even if it was more book accurate.
I’ve read the 6 Frank Herbert books and agree that is an amazing saga, though one I simply can’t imagine finding a big enough niche audience to pay for the budget such a saga would demand.
That said, I’d love to see Blomkamp’s take on the original story. I think a Messiah story with fantastic special FX can definitely work today and can be done on a realistic budget. I can’t see a movie about a giant God Emperor worm surviving production hell though…
I agree with Sean07. Take away the Star Wars and LOTR references and look beyond to other cultures, then you have a really orginal movie. However I did like the 1984 version, especially the production design. The ships that use “fold space” travel were immense and majestic. I was a bit cringy with the thought dialogue, like for instant when Paul Atriedes saw a lake full of water, it was “water…millilitres of it”! I sucked in my mouth when I heard that, otherwise yes please make an improved remake, yes.
i think the 3-4 hour DUNE was great! yes, it was long, but it told the DUNE story. the upcoming remake, will not be as good as the DUNE, of the 80′s. in my opinion. as far as the other renakees, the future will tell?
I’ve read the original books and I’ve seen the movie and mini-series. The original movie was a mockery of the larger ideas, motifs, and symbolisms put forth in the books, but it was a closer match as far as characters and wardrobe. The mini-series followed the book much closer, but was an embarrassing display of awkward and dysfunctional wardrobe and the extremely low budget for the series made it hard to watch. A good DUNE movie needs to follow the book like a script and not try to create new ideas, because with such a spectacular story, you don’t need the create new ideas, just use the book.
I’ll love the 1984 Dune Movie , they have to start since the begining THE BUTLERIAN JIHAD!
Instead of remaking DUNE I wish some brave sould would take on RINGWORLD Larry Nivens book and sequels which if well done could parlay into MANY films
please dont let peter berg anywhere near this project.can you say overrated hack?
better that it remains unmade actually
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Post By Thomas Wadd
29th Oct
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