As if the daunting task of taking on the sequel to Blade Runner wasn’t enough, director Denis Villeneuve is now on target to bring a new adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune series to the big screen for Legendary Pictures.
The news comes from the late visionary author’s son Brian via his Twitter account.
It’s official — Legendary Pictures has signed the very talented Denis Villeneuve to direct the exciting new DUNE series film project.
— Brian Herbert (@DuneAuthor) February 1, 2017
Villeneuve has an impressive resume of tense character driven work with Prisoners, Sicario and his most recent film Arrival. Up next from him is Blade Runner 2049 which if you look at the announcement trailer, definitely captures the iconic visuals of Ridley Scott’s iconic masterpiece.
While talking up Arrival with Variety in September 2016, he revealed some of his sci-fi influences and his dream of taking a crack at bringing his take on Dune to the big screen.
I had been wanting to do sci-fi for a very long time. “2001: A Space Odyssey” is a movie that really impressed me as a teenager. And also “Blade Runner.” And “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” is also one of my favorites. I’m always looking for sci-fi material, and it’s difficult to find original and strong material that’s not just about weaponry. A longstanding dream of mine is to adapt “Dune,” but it’s a long process to get the rights, and I don’t think I will succeed.
Dune is an immensely complex political property and according to Brian Herbert, a series is in the works, not just a single film that would have the impossible task of condensing massive story arcs like David Lynch’s 1984 trippy film did. In 2000, Sci-Fi Channel (now Syfy) gave it a try with a three-part mini-series based on Dune, and followed in 2003 with Children of Dune, three installments based on the novels Dune Messiah and Children of Dune.
More details to come.
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