Sci-Fi Dune

[green]

It could be a while. They've just started developing it and Legendary got the rights at the end of last year. I think we can rule out a 2017 start date. Not to mention Denis is developing "The Son" which is smaller in scale and closer to how Prisoners is as a movie. So that's most likely to come first if I was betting.

This is where it always fall apart...
I'd rather they take their time and get it right but this new version can't seem to get past pre production.

 

[Fallen Angel]

This is where it always fall apart...
I'd rather they take their time and get it right but this new version can't seem to get past pre production.

Huh! This new version is 3 months old at best (Legendary got the rights in November 2016) It takes a couple of years to develop something as big and rich as Dune.

They've not even started writing a script never mind pre production lol. It's just the starting phase.

 

[green]

Huh! This new version is 3 months old at best (Legendary got the rights in November 2016) It takes a couple of years to develop something as big and rich as Dune.

They've not even started writing a script never mind pre production lol. It's just the starting phase.

When I say this "new" version I'm referring to the fact that this has gone from Berg at WB to Morel at Paramount and now Villeneuve at Legendary.
We've twice now had directors attached and scripts being written to eventually go nowhere. Hopefully third time is a charm.
Palmers script for Morel was supposedly pretty solid, I'll be interested to see if they use any of it.

Lol, I'm quite aware of how production of a movie goes.

 

[Fallen Angel]

So then you should know it's a entirely different project to previous ones attempted. New team, new day and all that rubbish.

If we're in the same position (as in no writer or start date announced) this time next year, you can then tell me, Told you so.

 

[green]

Nah, I'm not a 'I told you so' type of person. I'll just be disappointed once again and move on.

 

[TheVileOne]

I agree with Green. This project has passed through many directors and many different studios in recent years.

Dune's not an easy novel to adapt. And again, the main hero does very questionable things that aren't very heroic. But maybe it will be revised to be more of a political allegory to the current times and geopolitical scene. I mean, I'd rather it be Villeneuve than anyone else, since the man knows his sci-fi and he makes very thoughtful interesting films. I'm still not convinced it can work for a mass audience though unless they make a ton of changes.

Just for example, Dune isn't going to be cheap. It also has some very dark subject matter. I don't want this to be sanitized at a PG-13. Are they really going to go to all the dark places the book did? Will the execs at Legendary really not force the removal of certain character deaths? Just FYI, even David Lynch took out some of these elements.

So, is Legendary really going to allow Villeneuve to do whatever he wants with $200 million? At the very least, if this version does happen, I think Villeneuve is one of the few who could come close to making it work, but if he has control and he doesn't veer too far away from the book. If he's just going to jettison all of Herbert's fantastic work...dunno how I feel about that.

I think at this point, the only director who has the clout to do whatever he wants for a Dune movie is Christopher Nolan. And even then, I'm still not sure how well it would work for audiences.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Of course you do. Ain't anything on here you don't moan about.

 

[green]

I agree with Green. This project has passed through many directors and many different studios in recent years.

Dune's not an easy novel to adapt. And again, the main hero does very questionable things that aren't very heroic. But maybe it will be revised to be more of a political allegory to the current times and geopolitical scene. I mean, I'd rather it be Villeneuve than anyone else, since the man knows his sci-fi and he makes very thoughtful interesting films. I'm still not convinced it can work for a mass audience though unless they make a ton of changes.

Just for example, Dune isn't going to be cheap. It also has some very dark subject matter. I don't want this to be sanitized at a PG-13. Are they really going to go to all the dark places the book did? Will the execs at Legendary really not force the removal of certain character deaths? Just FYI, even David Lynch took out some of these elements.

So, is Legendary really going to allow Villeneuve to do whatever he wants with $200 million? At the very least, if this version does happen, I think Villeneuve is one of the few who could come close to making it work, but if he has control and he doesn't veer too far away from the book. If he's just going to jettison all of Herbert's fantastic work...dunno how I feel about that.

I think at this point, the only director who has the clout to do whatever he wants for a Dune movie is Christopher Nolan. And even then, I'm still not sure how well it would work for audiences.

Has Legendary even announced a new CEO?
I know it was mentioned that Tull would stay on this as a producer.

 

[Alex Murphy]

Has Legendary even announced a new CEO?
I know it was mentioned that Tull would stay on this as a producer.

Not yet.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Hope this actually gets made, a new adaptation of this done right could be great

 

[TheVileOne]

Dune's my favorite book, and I have a sick obsession with all things Dune, so will be seeing this no matter what. I hope the film does get made under Villeneuve.

At the very least, if he makes it, it could have some interesting or weird stuff in it.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Dune's my favorite book, and I have a sick obsession with all things Dune, so will be seeing this no matter what. I hope the film does get made under Villeneuve.

At the very least, if he makes it, it could have some interesting or weird stuff in it.

It should have weird stuff anyways.

 

[TheVileOne]

It should have weird stuff anyways.

It should, but who knows how it will turn out and if what Legendary wants will gel with what Villeneuve wants.

 

[green]

This quote is from The Blade Runner thread...
Besides his tremendous talent his love for the property is giving me serious hope.

Villeneuve’s next film will be an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s iconic sci-fi novel “Dune” which he admits he wasn’t expecting to tackle so soon:

“Since I was 12 years old there was a book I read, which is ‘Dune,’ which is my favorite book, with ‘1984.’ After ‘Prisoners,’ the producer of Alcon asked me what I would like to do next. I said, ‘Dune,’ spontaneously, that if anyone could get me the rights for ‘Dune’ – and I knew it was very difficult to get those rights.
For me it was just a dream, and I guess I’m lucky that Mary Parent from Legendary got the rights and offered it to me. I can’t say no to that. I have images that I am haunted by for 35 years. I will not say no to that. That’s going to be the project of my life.”

 

[FVD]

I got to see that Spicediver Dune Alternative Edition Redux (also can be seen on YouTube too btw) which I hear is the definitive way to see the movie if you can handle fan edits.

Admittedly it was many years since I saw the theatrical release on VHS and apart from remembering that Sir Patrick Stewart was in this, I couldn't really remember anything else. So to hear that Denis Villeneuve is going to helm his dream project has me very excited and cannot help but anticipate inevitable improvements that can be made over the Lynch film, not to mention the Weirding Modules that I hear weren't in the book which will likely be removed in favour of the Weirding Way combat sequences as originally intended. Find a brilliant fight choreographer and no doubt will we see some awesome fight sequences. Just hope that Legendary gives Denis the freedom to make his movie the way he wants to. Heck, even if the film gets edited down to a 2.5-hour movie or something, I do think an Extended Cut should be considered much like LOTR because there will be elements that will likely make the Cutting Room floor.

Now I myself have never actually read the book(s) but most definitely will be doing so soon.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

It has been a long time since reading any Herbert. For those better versed... Do you consider Dune "hard" sci fi or more space opera? I know that ecology plays a big part in it but so much else feels very fantasy based. Am I off base here? Please educate me.

 

[Pink Ranger]

It's definitely not hard sci-fi; there are too many extraordinary plot elements the reader has to accept to qualify in that category. It has some characteristics of the space opera, in that there is faster than light travel and empire building, but with no humanoid aliens or talking robots. I would say that it's a dynastic romance in a science-fantasy setting.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

It's kind of anthropology scifi.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Thanks. I remember it being a sweeping epic with a detailed history but it contains elements that do separate it from something like Clarke or Asimov or Neal Stephenson. I keep meaning to re-read it since it has to be more than two decades since I cracked the first book. I was having a convo with a friend today and DUNE came up.

 

[TheVileOne]

Dune is closer to sci-fi in ways that Star Wars is not because while Star Wars is more fantasy, Dune is actually set in humanity's far off future, thousands of years from now.

 

[FVD]

Well, I've finally gotten round to picking up the book and already engaged having gone 70 pages into the book so far. Unbelievable the flaws from the David Lynch movie that I'm now trying to forget about lol.

So, what's the consensus so far? Could this movie be better suited to be split into two films like how Ridley Scott originally planned before having to pull out due to the passing of his older brother Frank? Could 2 2.5+ hour films be enough to contain the content of a 400+ page book? Seeing as there are plans to develop the franchise into TV format as well, maybe the follow-up books from Dune Messiah onwards could be better suited to TV while the original novel can introduce a new audience to the franchise on the big screen. And while I'm currently envisioning actors reading through the book right now, I wouldn't object to Legendary hiring Weta Workshop/Digital for set design, effects etc.

Anyway, that's my dream for the meantime.

 

[TheVileOne]

I would say go full on Game of Thrones TV route and then just ditch movie format entirely. That might sound cruel, but I think movies are not the be all end all for this type of thing anymore.

Game of Thrones could never do the things it does on TV in a live action film format.

With TV you can pretty much do everything and not have to compromise and cut out large swaths from the books.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

UGH. I'm trying to picture what Game of Thrones the movie would've looked like.

that's like one major death every 20 minutes.

 

[OutOfBoose]

Will they wait for the reception and BO performance of Blade Runner 2049 before dumping so much money into Dune?

 

[Fallen Angel]

Why? They got him in because they believe he's their man and look at his track record. The man is just coming off a critical and financially acclaimed movie that got 8 Oscar nominations including Best Picture.