The Remake Must Flow
Daniel Swensen
Sci Fi Wire reports that yet another Dune movie may be in the works, following in the footsteps of the 1984 David Lynch film and the 2000 Sci-Fi Channel miniseries.
C.H.U.D. reported a rumor that a new movie version of Frank Herbert’s classic SF novel Dune may be in the works. The site cites Byron Merritt, who runs the official Dune novel forums and is a member of the Herbert family.
“We’re getting VERY close to a deal. Heard that news today,” Merritt reportedly posted on Aug. 24. “Although only rumor, I’ve heard that ’someone’ at the studio wants Dune reallllly bad and has been a fan of the novel for years. They’re not saying who this is (and it might just be hype), but I’m holding out hope that whoever this might be is a big enough fan that he/she will do the book justice. Supposedly it’s some director.”
Well, the number of extraneous l’s in reallllly certainly has me convinced it’s a lock! Granted, it’s too early to tell whether anything will come of this, but with hoary sci-fi franchises being “rebooted” left and right, it’s probably a safe bet.
Personally, I’m of two minds about this: On one hand, Dune has never really been done well — I have a fondness for the loony verve of Lynch’s version, and the Sci-Fi Channel version, while barely passable, tried too hard to be cute, with its rapping Baron Harkonnen and unnecessarily oblique takes on pronunciation. Will a third take cure what ailed the first two attempts at bringing Dune to the big screen? Well, probably not. But one can hope.
September 3rd, 2007 at 9:43 pm
One can hope…until Shia Labeouf is given the role of Paul and J. Lo is cast as Jessica.
September 4th, 2007 at 10:22 am
I am hoping that The Lord of the Rings trilogy being ‘done right’ has awakened something in the studios… a realization that millions upon millions of fans will throw multiple dozens of dollars each at them if they make a book into a movie and do it right.
Key word: hoping.
September 4th, 2007 at 11:13 am
Thanks for making me spit tea on my keyboard, Tyrell. Summer 2009; Jerry Bruckheimer’s Dune.
I know some people liked it, but I thought the SciFi Channel version was terrible. The Lynch film is bizarre and has a very 80s vibe in some ways, but there’s something unique about it, kind of like the original Highlander. Plus, Patrick Stewart as Gurney Hallack. Whether or not it gets the story right, it creates a powerful and appropriate mood.
Did Frank Herbert like the SciFi remake? I know he supposedly hated the original and was very involved in the TV version.
November 30th, 2007 at 1:24 am
Unfortunately we will never know what Frank thought of the mini series. The best author of all time ( in my opinion) is no longer with us. He passed in the mid 80’s.