Dune is dead. Long live Dune!

There have been a few directors attached to Paramount’s planned new adaptation of Dune, and there have been a few scripts. I met some of the announcements with cautious optimism, but most with outright pessimism. That does not matter now. What matters is Paramount’s option to the property is running out, and the reason they are going to give up on it is simply the money.

The production would likely have cost over $100 million.

It’s hard to argue that $100 mill is a hell of a bid for a gamble of this magnitude. David Lynch’s Dune, which I enjoyed—and I saw it before I read the book—failed to make money. I suppose the SyFy mini-series made some bank, because they filmed a sequel, but big budget is closer to David Lynch’s foray than the mini-series. We’re talking some major cake.

And, frankly, do we need another Dune movie? I really don’t think so. I don’t think a single movie can do it justice. Two or three movies, with significant budgets? Possibly. But there is never a guarantee of quality.

I’m not terribly sorry this adaptation of Dune is being buried. Let’s try something new, shall we, Hollywood?

Outpost is a horror movie from the independent production company Black Camel Pictures, which is apparently a Scottish couple who mortgaged their home to finance it. Given the low budget (reportedly less than $500,000, which is ultra-low budget these days), I was very, very impressed with what I saw.

If you’ve seen Dog Soldiers, you’ve got the basic premise. If you haven’t, it’s soldiers vs. monsters. It’s a different monster than Dog Soldiers, and there’s a Nazi connection—which is always good for story-telling—but the general storyline is the same. Leading the cast is Ray Stevenson. That, curiosity, and the plot’s similarity to Dog Soldiers got me onboard.

Fair warning: I am not a horror movie fan. I actually very rarely watch horror movies. Given that, some of my opinions and impressions might be far off from someone more versed in horror movies.

In general, it’s fun. The acting isn’t bad—not Oscar calibre, certainly, but absolutely passable. Stevenson does a good job, but then I’m biased. I think he was channelling a little bit of Pullo and a little bit of Vorenus—and if you don’t get the Rome mini-series reference, you simply fail . . . go watch Rome then come back.

I wasn’t terribly surprised by the plot, nor its culmination. I have to admit that the tense moments left me tense, that there were scenes that gave me chills, and that I simply had to watch the movie to its conclusion. For me, this movie was entertaining. It’s worth the price of a rental. Heck, if I found it in a sale bin, I’d buy it, because I think it has re-watch value.

There were certainly problems with it—they didn’t get the military characters right, and there were at least a couple of “idiot moments”—but it did its job. Frankly, it gave me more than I expected.

And let me tell you, there is plenty of fodder for GMs out there. I’m already formulating my take on it. Gen Con 2008, I ran “Qalashar Dogs,” which was my riff on Dog Soldiers. I’m thinking “Outpost Dogs” isn’t far behind.

Who’s in?

In summary: this is an entertaining horror movie in the vein of Dog Soldiers. It delivered a solid horror experience through tension with only a few gory moments. I would recommend this movie and give it 3.5 sprays-n-prays out of 5.

You can find out more about Outpost here.

An important question on this St. Paddy’s Day–more important than ‘are you wearing green’ or ‘did you have to have that tenth Guinness?’–have you listened to episode 33 of Jennisodes, titled “Kids and Gaming” with guests Becca and ME?

Go listen. Do it now, before you are too drunk to do so.

Follow Becca/Talulla and Jenn on Twitter, because they are awesome.

And listen to the Jennisodes. It’s the best RPG podcast out there right now.

Cross-posted at SEP

For those of you who follow the news even slightly, you’ve seen that Japan was rocked by an earthquake, struck by a tsunami and there are now reports of a volcano. To try to help support disaster relief, Sword’s Edge Publishing has created two products from which all proceeds go to the International Committee of the Red Cross for its operations in Japan.

I’ve put together a bundle product of some of our items for $5.00. That’s more than ½ off the cover prices! Second, I’m re-releasing our Modern Medieval products, which took some of the tropes of d20 Modern for use in the Medieval and early Renaissance eras. That’s $5.00 as well. All proceeds from these products will go to the ICRC.

You can also donate directly to disaster relief through RPG Now or through one of the many humanitarian organizations, like ICRC or Oxfam.

Okay, perhaps someone has angered the elder beings. I don’t know how else to explain Guillermo del Toro’s horrible luck.

So, first there was the Hobbit. Del Toro was supposed to direct and have a hand in the scripting. This would have been amazing, because del Toro is a true fantasist, he’s got a singular vision, something very unique to him. With him directing and Peter Jackson producing, the Hobbit would have not only been amazing, it would have been different. It would have borne at least some of del Toro’s signature.

Then the financial problems at MGM delayed the production, and delayed it some more, and so finally del Toro had to pass on it. The uncertainty coupled with the expected length of the shoot led him to seek a film that he might be able to get going on sooner.

And soon after he left, all the problems cleared up, and now filming is scheduled with Peter Jackson directing. Sure I’ll go and see the Hobbit, but I think that was a huge missed opportunity.

Then del Toro linked up with James Cameron. Seems the two had wanted to work together for a long time, and Cameron had the rights to H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness. Cameron would produce and del Toro would direct. Once again, pretty much a dream situation. Cameron sometimes seems like a total dick, but there is no way one could argue he’s not a powerful force in movies. If he could use his influence to run interference for del Toro, we might have seen something really amazing. Del Toro was saying the only way to film it was to go R-rated. What’s the point of filming Mountains of Madness if you aren’t going to film, y’know, Mountains of Madness?

But the projected cost was $150 million, and even with Cameron’s influence, Universal—who is bankrolling it—balked. Production is in trouble, there’s no indication when or if it will start filming, and so now del Toro has walked.

He has another project (an alien invasion movie called Pacific Rim), but given the way things have been going, I fear for the fate of this production. It’s too bad Jackson doesn’t just call him and say “Listen, we’re back on . . . do you want to come by and direct?”

That only happens in my special happy place.

And so, the date for 3D Phantom Menace is 10 February 2012. While this is not the date of the Mayan apocalypse, perhaps it should be.

While I doubt this will be an apocalypse, there is no way Lucas is going to get me to put any more money down on the prequel trilogy. However, if we expect one movie a year, that puts Star Wars (you can’t make me write A New Hope, there is no way I’ll . . . never mind) coming out around 2015. My eldest will be 8 and my youngest will be 6.

Yup, I see a family event taking place.

Let me take my two girls to see Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back on the big screen, and I will forgive all else, Mr. Lucas. All. Else.

If you care, the announcement is here.

A couple of pieces of Superman casting news leave me conflicted. First off, apparently Viggo Mortensen, Aragorn from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings adaptations, is in talks—or may even have signed—to play Zod, the villain for the Superman movie being produced by Christopher Nolan and directed by Zack Snyder. Now, I like Mr. Mortensen. He was an excellent Aragorn, and he’s been excellent in other movies like A History of Violence. What I have not seen is the kind of bad-ass authority that Terence Stamp brought to the role in Superman II. Frankly, my love of the Zod character is much more about Stamp’s delivery and presence than anything integral to the character. The closest I can think of for Mortensen is his Command Master Chief Urgayle from GI Jane, and that isn’t good enough.

I like Viggo and I like the thought of Zod in the movie, but the two just don’t fit together in my mind.

Second is Diane Lane as Martha Kent. This conflict is something a little different. I have no doubt that she can play the role, but she really is far too hot for my conception of Martha Kent. No matter how much they “dowdy” her up, unless she’s going to pull a Charlize Theron Monster trick, I just can’t picture her as Mommy Supes.