New Dune Movie Confirmed

bowman9991 writes "Peter Berg will be directing a new big-budget Dune movie from Paramount. SFFMedia reports that 'although there were some doubts that they were going to get it,' the producers have secured the rights to the Dune novel from Frank Herbert's estate and are looking for writers to provide a screenplay that is true to the original text. Can't wait!"

Why not do another book in the series

[Chrisq (894406)]

Why redo the first book in the series when there are many more in the service. The current Dune is a great film anyway.

Re:Why not do another book in the series

[by Anonymous Coward]

Why redo the first book in the series when there are many more in the service. The current Dune is a great film anyway.

The first Dune movie sucked. Maybe you never read the books, but it didn't capture much of anything good from the book. The made for TV mini series was amazing. That's how to do Dune.

Re:Why not do another book in the series

[JesusPGT (624264)]

It may not have been incredibly faithful in terms of storyline, but its visual style is just on a completely higher level of awesomeness compared to the sci-fi miniseries. If they can make the story more like the book, but try to keep at least some of the design elements of the Lynch version, I will be happy.

Re:Why not do another book in the series

[halivar (535827)]

The first Dune movie is some of the finest cinema ever made, IMHO. It may miss the book at many significant points, but it does capture the tone and atmosphere of it. The costumes, set design, and dialog were all very true to the book. I also loved the Toto soundtrack. My only real beef is the removal of lasguns and the addition of "wierding modules." This is not enough to make me hate the movie, however.

I don't need another remake of the first book, anyway. I'd much rather they made a movie on the second or third books.

Re:Why not do another book in the series

[pla (258480)]

My only real beef is the removal of lasguns and the addition of "wierding modules." This is not enough to make me hate the movie, however.

I would agree with you in that I much prefer Lynch's version. However, the addition of the weirding modules (and the complete avoidance of the lasgun/shield interaction problem) almost ceompletely undermined Herbert's intended mockery of religion...

In the book, Paul (and Jessica) basically exploit the natives' superstitions to use them as pawns in a mostly-political game (although in fairness they do eventually "go native"). Lynch makes it out as more of a tune-in-turn-on-drop-out messianic fairy-tale.

Both have their merits, but I'd hardly even call them the same story.

Re:Why not do another book in the series

[gad_zuki! (70830)]

Unfortunately its very hip right now to hate this movie, so the film community just focuses on its negative parts and the hard-core sci-fi fans are always pissed about even the slightest deviation from the book.

That said, its a stunning movie. I've watched it many times and am always noticing something new. The design of the objects, sets, and costumes is extremely original and creative. It builds this dark alien sci-fi mood that no other movie has, perhaps with the exception of bladerunner. Its really an incredible piece of filmmaking and I hope the generation that associates Dune with the sci-fi channel should give it a chance.

Re:Why not do another book in the series

[MsGeek (162936)]

My requests for a new Dune movie...

1.) Semitic-looking Fremen speaking perfect Arabic with English subtitles. Remember, the Sayyadinas reconstructed the "Language of the Book" by imbibing the Water of Life and consulting with Ancestral Memory.

2.) Weirding Way of Battle = Sufi Mysticism and Kung Fu. Not stupid sonic guns that can be sold in toy stores.

3.) Vladimir Harkonnen as the evil bastard he truly was, without the flying crap. Those suspensors were attached to him so that he could move around under his flab.

4.) DIRECTED BY DAVID CRONENBERG. Boo. Yah. It would make this Dune a very adult and very brutal movie, but dammit, the books were written for adults, not for the moms little kids who wanted another Star Wars to take their kids to. See A History Of Violence or Eastern Promises to see what Cronenberg is capable of now.

5.) Guild Steersmen who look like mutant humans, not sandworms.

6.) Ornithopters with elegant, sweeping wings that flap and glide like birds of prey.

7.) Viggo Mortensen as Duke Leto. Awesome.

Re:Why not do another book in the series

[SatanicPuppy (611928)]

The book is near-impossible to transfer accurately to film; there is waaaay too much internal dialogue and extremely dry politic-ing.

Any movie that is actually going to be worth watching is going to have to hack out big chunks of that stuff.

Re:Why not do another book in the series

[Ctrl-Z (28806)]

I suspect that if the film does well enough at the box office that the studio would be interested in creating sequels. They need to create interest from somewhere, and Dune is a great place to (re)start.

Re:Why not do another book in the series

[Dread_ed (260158)]

Two words: Honored Matres.

Who the hell wouldn't want to see female killing machines fuck the self control out of people?

Re:Why not do another book in the series

[Rogerborg (306625)]

Please note: a movie can be "a great film" without being a great adaptation of a book.

The problem is not the director

[Zontar_Thing_From_Ve (949321)]

I happen to think David Lynch is a genius. Some will not agree. That's fine. However, I think hopefully we can safely agree that Lynch does know how to direct (he's been nominated for several Academy Awards). The problem with the original Dune in my opinion is that the story is vast. It was just impossible to do justice to the story in a 2.5 hour movie. I don't personally consider the differences between the film and novel to be significant and for those who do, well, just wait until you see this film. If you think that in 2.5 to 3 hours that Peter Berg will somehow be able to produce a more faithful version of Dune , well, that's a rather interesting thought that surely will be proven false. Lynch had to leave out large sections of the first book to save time and Berg will operate under the same conditions. That's why the SciFi Channel filmed Dune as a multipart story.

That was my problem with it, basically

[Moraelin (679338)]

Well, that was my problem with David Lynch's movie, basically. It's like an abbreviated summary of the book. Actually, probably a better way to explain it, would be Woody Allen quote: "Woody Allen I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It involves Russia." That's just about it.

If you had already read the book, I guess it wasn't a bad movie. It had just enough visual clues to let your memory do the rest. So you can look an go, "ooh, I know, this is the Gom Jabbar sequence", and you'd already know what led there, where it goes from there, and why is that important. While the movie would move to the next scene and give you yet another piece, and again, it would be mostly up to your memory to fill in the gap and put the new scene in context too.

I, however, must have been one of the few who saw the movie before reading the book. In fact, I got the book only because the movie didn't make that much sense at times, and certainly didn't leave me with the awe for Dune that everyone else semed to have. (I know, I know, I'll hand in my nerd card now;) It wasn't a _bad_ movie per se, but in retrospect it just wasn't Dune. It was a mildly SF-themed action movie, where some guys fought for some desert planet, for some resource those guys had. And not only it was just as superficial as any other action movie (it could have been "Rambo Does Iraq" just as well), but the plot seemed a little bit condensed and rushed through even by action movie standards. Everything that made it... well, made it _Dune_, was at best hinted at, and sometimes it came via short scenes that didn't seem to make that much sense or have much relevance for the rest of the movie.

Again, in retrospect I can see how you'd figure it out if you had read the book already, and only used the movie as a visual summary. Without that background, I wasn't impressed much.

Can someone else do better? Heck if I know, to be honest. One can only hope. It's certainly impossible to do justice to the whole Dune story, you're right in that aspect. But maybe he can make a movie that at least makes sense on its own.

Oooh, oooh!

[realmolo (574068)]

A new sci-fi movie? Have they checked the availability of the "Official Sci-Fi/Fantasy Actors of the 21st Century": Patrick Stewart Milla Jovovich Wesley Snipes Toby Macguire Christian Bale Liam Neeson Natalie Portman Hugo Weaving Samuel L. Jackson Hugh Jackman and, of course, Ray Park I mean, you can't make a sci-fi movie without *at least* 2 people from that list!

It is by fanboys alone...

[nweaver (113078)]

It is by fanboys alone that drool is set in motion.

It is by the news of cool that mobs begin to form, the slash begins to dot, the hype begins to build.

It is by fanboys alone that drool is set in motion.

Re:It is by fanboys alone...

[Kozar_The_Malignant (738483)]

Now if I could get the grocery clerk to tell me which aisle the juice of saphu is in.

Look up a bit. There are signs over the aisles. Look for the one that says: COFFEE

Epic Anime

[russlar (1122455)]

I've thought for a long time that the only way to properly present Dune on the big screen, and be 100% true to the details of the book, was to make it into an epic Anime.

Re:Epic Anime

[halivar (535827)]

Will the Bene Gesserit have magic school-girl outfit change sequences? Ooh, ooh! The Guild navigators could have tentacles! And Paul needs to be 12, have a girly voice, and spiky hair. Totally play up the angst. Also, you have to call out the name of the Wierding Way maneuvers you're using ("Desert Flower Wierding Strike Omega!!!!").

Re:How many times are we going to do it?

[WarPresident (754535)]

I mean, I like Dune, but how many remakes is enough?

I don't know, but I hope they find a group of musicians on par with Toto!

Reading the book can ruin the movie ...

[AHumbleOpinion (546848)]

... but if the acting is supurb, and they're telling a good story, then I'm happy.

Maybe, if you have not read the book. The 1980s theatrical movie had good acting and a good story but plot elements really knocked the movie down a notch, for example for many who read the book the sound based weapons were a strong negative. The Fremen won fights because their environment and culture made them tough, it was not a technological gimmick. The movie discarded a major element of the book, people adapting to and being influenced (culturally and physically) by their environment.

Re:multiple sequels usually don't work too well

[Z00L00K (682162)]

I personally liked the old one directed by David Lynch [imdb.com]. That movie did leave sections out, which unfortunately made it a bit thin compared to the book.

But I still think that any new movie has to be measured against this. As I have understood it that movie was cut down quite a bit. I heard that there was 8 hours cut out of the original filming. But I suspect that some of it were bad scenes and duplicates and that the remaining parts have been destroyed by now so a "full version" or anything else may be lost to the void.

But another question is - Why redo that book again? Let us see some other of the well-known authors filmed. Asimov's "Nightfall", Gordon Dickson's "Way of the Pilgrim", Frederick Pohl's "Gateway", Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land" (which gave us the word "Grok") or "Citizen of the Galaxy", Keith Laumer's "Galactic Odyssey", Jack Vance's "The Demon Princes", Alfred Bester's "The Stars My Destination", Jack McDevitt's "A Talent for War", Brian Aldiss epic "Helliconia", Christopher Anvil's "Pandora's Planet", Steven Gould's "Helm", Alfred Elton van Vogt's "The Empire of Isher".

There are also books that are better suited for TV series of course. Gordon Dickson's Dorsai books and the many Sector General stories from James White.

And there are books/authors that has produced enough material to allow creation of an epic series that sure could take on Star Wars (but sure be very different) like Iain M Banks Culture novels, the "Hope" series of David Feintuch, Asimov's foundation books, Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" and following books.

But maybe this just indicates that Hollywood needs to play it safe - but I think that they play it too safe in this case. One movie that's available on DVD still and the mini-series that was released a few years ago must surely have blunted the market for a third movie on the same story.

Re:multiple sequels usually don't work too well

[vecctor (935163)]

They made Children of Dune [wikipedia.org] in a tv mini-series sequel to Dune [wikipedia.org] on the sci-fi channel.

Not technically a movie, but only because of length and presentation format. It had the production values easily - so it was pretty much a 4-5 hour long movie (and was sold on DVD that way).

Re:Hope it's not like the mini series

[Trent Hawkins (1093109)]

I only made it halfway through it. I couldn't believe how pretentious it was. David Lynch's version was good, but I'd like to see a modern adaptation closer to the book.

You mean a Dune movie staring Will Smith?

Re:Please be LotR

[cerelib (903469)]

I honestly don't know how they did it.

There is an important difference between how Dune was written and how LotR was written. Frank Herbert was spinning a complex plot that required quite a bit of internal dialogue, narration, and back story to let the reader understand the characters and their motivations. LotR on the other hand is a much more straight forward black and white, good vs evil story. Much of the back story parts are almost completely superflous to the story and instead are used to immerse the reader into the world. These things include historical descriptions of places and societies and of course songs/poems. Much of this can be skipped while reading LotR, but makes for a less enjoyable read. The advantage Peter Jackson had is that, with enough good cinematography and special effects, the format of a movie is good enough to provide the immersive experience to the audience. LotR is what is good because of Tolkien's style, and Dune is good because of Herbert's style, but they are quite different especially in regards to their ability to be translated to a feature film.

Re:Dune is rooted in Islamic Culture

[imgod2u (812837)]

I agree that there are huge similarities between the Fremen and modern Islamic groups. What's funny is that Frank Herbert got the idea of the story not from the conflicts in the Middle East but from the exploitation of Africa. Diamond and oil.

One of the key points of Dune is not necessarily power or oppression but political trappings. It is much more a criticism of how the powers than be (the emperor, the navigator's guild, the bene gesserit, etc.) were all interlocked and trapped by each other in a perpetual cycle of deceit and backstabbing. None of them could accomplish anything and humanity was at a standstill destined for extinction should anything slight thing (such as the sandworms dying) interrupt their routine.

It's an allegory to the dependence on oil and the globalized politics of today. How even the U.S., being the superpower that it is, is locked into binding treaties and very restricted in terms of what it can do to help itself or the world.