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?

I don’t know if it a sad or happy . . . or indifferent turn of events, but Peter Berg is off the Dune buggy.

Sorry about that one. Anyway . . .

Pierre Morel is now slated to direct the adaptation of the novel Dune. I know that Morel has said he wants to be deliver something close (or closer) to the actual novel, but I have no idea if he can deliver, or if his “closer” will actually produce a better movie than Berg’s vision.

What is cool is that we get to see some of the concept art that Jock—he of the awesomely awesome comic series The Losers—produced for the Berg project.

Very interesting, very stylized—it’s just very “Jock.” Be sure to check it out.

See the pics here.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a guy named Chase Palmer (seriously, that is totally going to be the name of a character in my Osiris Files campaign) is going to write the planned Dune movie.

Now, I have no idea who Mr. Palmer might be, other than the gestalt of Ambrose Chase and Harry Palmer . . . sorry, my RPG campaign has again leaked into this post.

What is important, and what makes me smile and giggle quietly to myself (in a “giddy schoolgirl” rather than “cannibal psychopath” fashion) is that the director “. . . is intent on hewing close to the source material, Frank Herbert’s classic 1965 sci-fi tome.”

Ah hells yeah.

Of course, the intent and the accomplishment are two very different things. Still, it gives one hope. Hope that Hollywood can then dash in order to feed its insatiable black heart fuelled with the pathos and tears of geeks, but hope nonetheless.

Present Dune director Pierre Morel had an interview with MTV in which he discussed his love for the book. He kind of dissed David Lynch’s movie in an off-hand way.

“As a David Lynch movie, I loved it. As a ‘Dune’ fan, I was not such a big fan.”

Well, I have to be honest, I was introduced to Dune through David Lynch’s movie, so I continue to have a soft spot in my heart for it. I certainly prefer it to the Sci Fi (Syfy?) version, which had aspects more faithful to the book, but also lacked a lot of the verve and skill that marked Lynch’s foray.

The fact is, there is nothing Morel can say to quell my anxieties. He can talk as good of a game as he likes. Are the studios going to give him free rein? They did with Peter Jackson. Maybe they’ll take another gamble. But even if they do, can Morel deliver?

In time, I guess we’ll see.

That’s if this makes it to principal photography.

IF.

So, the guy that directed Taken is set to direct Dune.

Sigh. May I have my steaming hot cup of disappointment spilled in my lap now, please?

Not that Taken was a bad movie. In fact, it was awesome . . . for what it was. As a straight-ahead actioner, I don’t think you can do much better. At least not recently. You’ve got the tongue-in-cheek ultra-violence of Shoot ‘Em Up and Smokin’ Aces, but Taken had a real story, and Liam Neeson sold it like a mother-fucker.

Now, I don’t know how much I would have loved that same movie without Liam Neeson. I really don’t know how Taken could have worked without such a central and strong performance.

Will Pierre Morel be able to hit pay dirt twice? Well, he did direct District 13, which I hear was interesting (though I really haven’t heard much comment on its quality), and he has From Paris With Love coming, which might tell us if he can hit paydirt twice.

And then we can start worrying about him pissing all over Dune.

I am such an optimist.

It seems that Peter Berg is off of Dune. I can’t say that I’m terribly broken up about that. Berg hasn’t shown me any indication that he can take on this canonical work without going Hollywood on it. And yes, “going Hollywood” on it is NOT a good thing. Never a good thing.

The two names that I’ve seen attached to Dune now give me some hope.

Neil Marshall, he of Dog Soldiers and Doomsday, isn’t a bad choice. Much like Peter Jackson before the Lord of the Rings, Marshall has shown real brilliance, even if he has never handled so large a project.

Now I haven’t seen District 9 (when is it coming out on DVD?), but Neill Blomkamp is kind of in the same boat as Marshall. Right now, if the choice were mine, I’d have to go with Marshall just as a known quantity, but Blomkamp has shown he is capable with SF. Neither has done a “big” movie, but neither had Jackson, and that turned out pretty well for everyone involved.

I have to admit to having a soft spot for the David Lynch version of Dune. I actually saw it before I read the novel. I don’t think I would have been as happy with it had I not. The Dune miniseries from the Sci Fi channel was okay, but it didn’t really grip me. Lynch’s Dune had inspired casting. The miniseries had William Hurt, who was great, but no one else really made an impact on me. I really did not like Alec Newman as Paul Atreides. Of course, that’s just me.

In the end, I’d be excited to see another version of Dune. I don’t think we’ll ever get the definitive one. Still, if someone makes it, I’ll likely watch it. Maybe by the time it’s out, I’ll be back to seeing movies in the theatres.

So, Sci Fi Wire has an interview with Peter Berg about his upcoming Dune project. This will be the third adaptation of the book. I can’t say I’m particularly thrilled.

I actually saw the David Lynch movie before I read the book. I enjoyed it quite a bit, though I was pretty young. I didn’t read Dune until high school. I can only imagine someone who had read that classic viewing Lynch’s adaptation. I came at it the right way, because while the movie was interesting, the book is astounding.

I’ve also seen the mini-series, which left me kind of ‘meh.’ It was good, but I can’t say the actor playing Paul Atreides really worked for me. He seemed too . . . sleepy, too neutral through the whole story. His emotional high points came off as particularly forced.

Then again, I only saw it once a few years ago, so my memories may be faulty.

As for this new version, I haven’t seen anything by Peter Berg that makes me think he can out-Dune David Lynch, and certainly nothing that makes me think he can pull off a satisfactory adaptation.

Time will tell. I’ve likely been wrong before.