Possible Dune remake

[Whitestar]

Don't take my word for it, check out the following article, along with the link:

Dune Film Rumor Emerges

C.H.U.D. reported a rumor that a new movie version of Frank Herbert's classic SF novel Dune may be in the works. The site cites Byron Merritt, who runs the official Dune novel forums and is a member of the Herbert family.

"We're getting VERY close to a deal. Heard that news today," Merritt reportedly posted on Aug. 24. "Although only rumor, I've heard that 'someone' at the studio wants Dune reallllly bad and has been a fan of the novel for years. They're not saying who this is (and it might just be hype), but I'm holding out hope that whoever this might be is a big enough fan that he/she will do the book justice. Supposedly it's some director."

Dune was previously adapted as a movie by director David Lynch and again as a miniseries on SCI FI Channel.

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index...d=43792&type=0

Personally, I thought that Sci-Fi Channel's version was quite decent compared to David Lynch's version. I would very much like to see a sequel to Children of Dune instead. What does everybody else thinks?

[Xicer]

I really hope they do it right this time. I mean I liked David Lynch's version as well as the miniseries but it would be great to see an adaptation that stays almost completely true to the book. By the sounds of it, this one may be it.

As for a Children of Dune sequel, I think it'd be REALLY hard to make an adaptation of God Emperor of Dune. If you've read the book, I think you know what I mean.

[SaberBlade]

Personally i'd rather see a new mini series sequel. I can't really see a 2 hour movie doing something different considering Dune/Children of Dune combined totals up to about 9 hours.

With the exception of having a bigger budget, less time and possibly actors/actresses with box office attraction, I can't see it being a good thing beyond the special effects.

[AnUbIs2004]

Well personally I would like for once Hollywood do something original instead of just pulling remakes out their @$$. Think about it, all that we get time and time again is remake after remake, sometimes good but most often just plain bad.

Yet there are so many different and original books, plays, short stories, etc.. out there. Funny, I had just put down a book before pulling up this site. The book was a collection of classic Science Fiction short stories I got in a class about SciFi back in high school some many years ago. There are roughly 40 stories, yet interestingly not a single one has ever been made into a movie. What we do get are horrible remakes of what was originally bad movies or TV shows (Flash Gordon? Bionic Woman? etc..) or endless game to films (Name one single game to film that is considered good?), and of course the endless sequaling of anything that makes over $10 (You'll understand what I mean when Resident Evil 7 comes out).

Not debating whether the first Dune was good or not, or whether they necessarily should not make this. All I am saying is if they want to give us retreads of stories we already know, let us have at least a few original ideas. And even then it is still always a longshot whether a movie will be good or not anyways. I have not been to a movie theater in almost 2 years now. Most of these films are subpar enough they do not even warrant the gas cost driving the whole 2 1/2 miles to the theater (plus it helps having a 50" TV at home).

All I know is one thing, whether this movie is good or not, I will not see it in the theater unless it becomes a true classic it is that good. Odds are it will not. And let us also put the odds on that it will NOT be faithful in any way to the novel. No, instead the 95% odds are that it will be dumbed down and cheapened to maximize profit.

[Xicer]

Personally i'd rather see a new mini series sequel. I can't really see a 2 hour movie doing something different considering Dune/Children of Dune combined totals up to about 9 hours.

Well true that they would have to be pretty long movies but it can't be that bad. I'm pretty sure we can split them up into 3 hour movies. Keep in mind also that the Children of Dune miniseries was actually an adaptation of two books. The first part told the events of Dune Messiah while the second part was Children of Dune. As for a CoD sequel, as I stated above, it would really be nearly impossible to make a live-action adaptation of the fourth book, God Emperor of Dune, because of how, shall we say "different" it is from most anything I have ever read.

[Oka]

I'd like to see a TV-show instead of a movie to be honest. Base it on the 6 first books or something, or just put the show in the Dune universe. I just don't think a 2 hour movie can do the book(s) justice.

[Xicer]

Well personally I would like for once Hollywood do something original instead of just pulling remakes out their @$$. Think about it, all that we get time and time again is remake after remake, sometimes good but most often just plain bad.

Yet there are so many different and original books, plays, short stories, etc.. out there. Funny, I had just put down a book before pulling up this site. The book was a collection of classic Science Fiction short stories I got in a class about SciFi back in high school some many years ago. There are roughly 40 stories, yet interestingly not a single one has ever been made into a movie. What we do get are horrible remakes of what was originally bad movies or TV shows (Flash Gordon? Bionic Woman? etc..) or endless game to films (Name one single game to film that is considered good?), and of course the endless sequaling of anything that makes over $10 (You'll understand what I mean when Resident Evil 7 comes out).

Not debating whether the first Dune was good or not, or whether they necessarily should not make this. All I am saying is if they want to give us retreads of stories we already know, let us have at least a few original ideas. And even then it is still always a longshot whether a movie will be good or not anyways. I have not been to a movie theater in almost 2 years now. Most of these films are subpar enough they do not even warrant the gas cost driving the whole 2 1/2 miles to the theater (plus it helps having a 50" TV at home).

All I know is one thing, whether this movie is good or not, I will not see it in the theater unless it becomes a true classic it is that good. Odds are it will not. And let us also put the odds on that it will NOT be faithful in any way to the novel. No, instead the 95% odds are that it will be dumbed down and cheapened to maximize profit.

I think I know what you mean, it seems these days Hollywood has run out of ideas and are mostly making movie adaptations of comics (Spider-Man, Batman, 300, Ironman) and as far as scifi goes they seem to be doing a lot of remakes of old shows or comics (Painkiller Jane, Bionic Woman, Flash Gordon, Battlestar Galactica ) which are mostly bad (except the new BSG which I like and the new BW doesn't look that bad). But nevertheless, there are a LOT of remakes and adaptations these days.

However, to be fair, the mainstream audience doesn't look at science fiction as it once did. When most people think of scifi these days, they usually think of "Z0MG Spaceships!!1!!1one!!1!!" or "PEW PEW LAZ0RZ!!!11!11one" so many of the good scifi books out there wouldn't do very well in the box office. Hollywood wants $$$, and a lot of these good scifi books aren't going to make it.

I remember reading one time a scifi book called "The Illustrated Man" which was a set of various short stories. Most if not all were brilliantly written and I would have loved to see some kind of visual adapation of the stories. Of course, books like these just aren't worth making, at least to Hollywood. Nowadays, people care more about the characters in a story rather than the story itself. And with a book like "The Illustrated Man" in which each story has different characters, people just wouldn't find it appealing. I bet if "The Twilight Zone" were to air today, it wouldn't last one season. That's the sad truth. So when people see a familiar name like "Dune" they're gonna be interested.

/rant over

I'd like to see a TV-show instead of a movie to be honest. Base it on the 6 first books or something, or just put the show in the Dune universe. I just don't think a 2 hour movie can do the book(s) justice.

I have to agree here, but then again I don't think even a spread out TV show can do it justice. The Dune novels are written in such a way that if their original words are taken from them, it's just not the same. To fully appreciate the book you have to read it. IMO, no TV show or Movie or Miniseries can ever do it justice, but it can come close.

[boxvic]

Dune is just not the type of thing that can be translated well to film. I mean yeah if they make this, I'll see it at some point, but really, Dune is all about the prose. There isn't a lot of action in the books, and the dialog, though it reads well, isn't likely to keep people entertained when they listen to it.

Herbert was a genius when it came to prose. He was able to write things that sounded deep and meaningful, while still being accessible to everyone. I think all of the film/TV adaptations so far have proved that the stories just can't be converted to film.

Now, if they were to make the prequel novels into a movie, that could work. Kevin Anderson and Brian Herbert do not hold a candle to Frank when it comes to prose, but they are masters of plot and action. Butlerian Jihad, Machine Crusade, and Battle of Corin would make awesome movies.

[Starrtom]

If it has any chance of being good, it will need Peter Jackson at the helm. He would be ideal director for such a project.

[Whitestar]

Well personally I would like for once Hollywood do something original instead of just pulling remakes out their @$$. Think about it, all that we get time and time again is remake after remake, sometimes good but most often just plain bad.

Yet there are so many different and original books, plays, short stories, etc.. out there. Funny, I had just put down a book before pulling up this site. The book was a collection of classic Science Fiction short stories I got in a class about SciFi back in high school some many years ago. There are roughly 40 stories, yet interestingly not a single one has ever been made into a movie. What we do get are horrible remakes of what was originally bad movies or TV shows (Flash Gordon? Bionic Woman? etc..) or endless game to films (Name one single game to film that is considered good?), and of course the endless sequaling of anything that makes over $10 (You'll understand what I mean when Resident Evil 7 comes out).

Not debating whether the first Dune was good or not, or whether they necessarily should not make this. All I am saying is if they want to give us retreads of stories we already know, let us have at least a few original ideas. And even then it is still always a longshot whether a movie will be good or not anyways. I have not been to a movie theater in almost 2 years now. Most of these films are subpar enough they do not even warrant the gas cost driving the whole 2 1/2 miles to the theater (plus it helps having a 50" TV at home).

All I know is one thing, whether this movie is good or not, I will not see it in the theater unless it becomes a true classic it is that good. Odds are it will not. And let us also put the odds on that it will NOT be faithful in any way to the novel. No, instead the 95% odds are that it will be dumbed down and cheapened to maximize profit.

I think I know what you mean, it seems these days Hollywood has run out of ideas and are mostly making movie adaptations of comics (Spider-Man, Batman, 300, Ironman) and as far as scifi goes they seem to be doing a lot of remakes of old shows or comics (Painkiller Jane, Bionic Woman, Flash Gordon, Battlestar Galactica ) which are mostly bad (except the new BSG which I like and the new BW doesn't look that bad). But nevertheless, there are a LOT of remakes and adaptations these days.

However, to be fair, the mainstream audience doesn't look at science fiction as it once did. When most people think of scifi these days, they usually think of "Z0MG Spaceships!!1!!1one!!1!!" or "PEW PEW LAZ0RZ!!!11!11one" so many of the good scifi books out there wouldn't do very well in the box office. Hollywood wants $$$, and a lot of these good scifi books aren't going to make it.

I remember reading one time a scifi book called "The Illustrated Man" which was a set of various short stories. Most if not all were brilliantly written and I would have loved to see some kind of visual adapation of the stories. Of course, books like these just aren't worth making, at least to Hollywood.

Well said, AnUbIs2004 and Xicer! I think the problem with todays sci-fi/fantasty audiences is that they don't read at all compared to the previous generations. Ever since the first Star Wars and Star Trek movie came out in theaters, the general sci-fi/fantasy public has been reading less and less. Mind you, this is not to put down Star Wars and Star Trek because I'm a fan of both of them, but it concerns me deeply that todays audiences are simply not interested in reading. They think that Star Wars and Star Trek are the pinnacles of sci-fi when it fact, they are the equivalent of Barney the Purple Dinosaur. I would love to see Hollywood release films such as The Andromeda Strain, The Foundation Series, The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 457, and Repent Said the TicktockMan to name a few. The fact that todays public is hardly reading at all explains why Hollywood is "dumbing down" movies like I, Robot and War of the Worlds, so we really can't blame Hollywood for it.

Nowadays, people care more about the characters in a story rather than the story itself. And with a book like "The Illustrated Man" in which each story has different characters, people just wouldn't find it appealing. I bet if "The Twilight Zone" were to air today, it wouldn't last one season. That's the sad truth.

Actually, there was a Twlight Zone revival that lasted from 2002 to 2003 and it was hosted by Forest Whittaker. It was quite good for a revival, but it didn't last long, unfortunately.

So when people see a familiar name like "Dune" they're gonna be interested. /rant over

Well, I wouldn't be so sure. You see, I know a lot of people really liked the David Lynch film, but the majority of moviegoers didn't like it, which would explain why it wasn't a commerical success. The proble, was that it was advertised poorly, that is, the general public were expecting another Star Wars and didn't get it, hence, its failure at the box office.

I'd like to see a TV-show instead of a movie to be honest. Base it on the 6 first books or something, or just put the show in the Dune universe. I just don't think a 2 hour movie can do the book(s) justice.

I have to agree here, but then again I don't think even a spread out TV show can do it justice. The Dune novels are written in such a way that if their original words are taken from them, it's just not the same. To fully appreciate the book you have to read it. IMO, no TV show or Movie or Miniseries can ever do it justice, but it can come close.

Well, I think the only way we're going to get high quality sci-fi/fantasy programs is by adapting classic novels on tv instead of in movies because unlike the movie audience where you have to reach the lowest common denominator, on tv as well as in books, you can afford to have a more sophisticated and discriminating audience that will appreciate high quality programming. This in turn will also allow the writers more time and flexiability to develop and flesh out all the characters in a story, whereas in a movie you have only two hours to tell your story, which would explain why a movie based on a book or tv show will place more emphasis on action and suspense as opposed to character and story. To be honest, I don't have much faith in Hollywood or in movies today, with the Independent films being the sole exception. But if we were to have high quality sci-fi/fantasy films based on a book or tv show, without resorting to "dumbing down" them is to encourage the public to read, or release them as independent movies, freed from the shackles of Hollywood.

[Wyrminarrd]

I loved the David Lynch movie when I saw it has a kid, it in fact ruined the book for me since I liked the movie version so much better.

If they decide to go ahead with this I will almost certainly see it so long as it receives even half way decent reviews.

One wonders however if the movie is successful will they then make movies out of the prequels? The Butlarian Jihad would propably lend itself well to a movie or movies.

[AvatarIII]

i loved the original movie, why remake it when there are plenty of other newer sci-fi books that deserve making, and i doubt the original could be topped, or if it was it would be very long

[rejven]

this is excellent news i really liked dune and two mini-series( children of dune was superb imo though cgi could be better). But i also agree with AvatarIII that there are many more stories to be told on screen.

[SaberBlade]

Well true that they would have to be pretty long movies but it can't be that bad. I'm pretty sure we can split them up into 3 hour movies. Keep in mind also that the Children of Dune miniseries was actually an adaptation of two books. The first part told the events of Dune Messiah while the second part was Children of Dune. As for a CoD sequel, as I stated above, it would really be nearly impossible to make a live-action adaptation of the fourth book, God Emperor of Dune, because of how, shall we say "different" it is from most anything I have ever read.

While doing multiple movies can be a good idea depending on the project (which I would consider Dune a good candidate for a trilogy or two), the problem is that Hollywood could be in control. If it fails to make the money they want, then fans are being screwed because the rest of the movies wouldn't be done.

I seem to remember something about Peter Jackson looking for funding to do all three LOTR movies at once because otherwise they may not have gotten done if the first never brought in the money studio's wanted. I could see the same for Dune, if someone said lets make a movie out of all 6 books, the moment one movie fails to meet expectations the rest wouldn't be done.

[Xicer]

boxvic, I completely agree with what you said about Frank and his writing. The way he used words in his books just could not be matched or correctly used in any kind of adaptation. But I still think that it never hurts to try. No adaptation can copy Frank's style of writing but you never know, if we get a REALLY good director for this proposed movie, they could try something a little different.

I would love to see Hollywood release films such as The Andromeda Strain, The Foundation Series, The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 457, and Repent Said the TicktockMan to name a few. The fact that todays public is hardly reading at all explains why Hollywood is "dumbing down" movies like I, Robot and War of the Worlds, so we really can't blame Hollywood for it.

Actually there is a 1971 movie adaptation of The Andromeda Strain which was quite good, and I think there is a planned 2008 miniseries. I think there is also supposed to be a 2009 Fahrenheit 451 movie where it's rumored that Tom Hanks will play Guy Montag.

But I definitely have to agree with you on the dumbing down part. To me, both I, Robot and the new War of the Worlds were real let-downs.

Actually, there was a Twlight Zone revival that lasted from 2002 to 2003 and it was hosted by Forest Whittaker. It was quite good for a revival, but it didn't last long, unfortunately.

Ah yes I think I remember that now. Yeah it didn't last very long unfortunately and I think that further proves my point.

Well, I wouldn't be so sure. You see, I know a lot of people really liked the David Lynch film, but the majority of moviegoers didn't like it, which would explain why it wasn't a commerical success. The proble, was that it was advertised poorly, that is, the general public were expecting another Star Wars and didn't get it, hence, its failure at the box office.

True, but at least Dune is something they are somewhat familiar with, even though it may not have been very good in their books. I think that still puts it at an advantage over newer books.

While doing multiple movies can be a good idea depending on the project (which I would consider Dune a good candidate for a trilogy or two), the problem is that Hollywood could be in control. If it fails to make the money they want, then fans are being screwed because the rest of the movies wouldn't be done.

I seem to remember something about Peter Jackson looking for funding to do all three LOTR movies at once because otherwise they may not have gotten done if the first never brought in the money studio's wanted. I could see the same for Dune, if someone said lets make a movie out of all 6 books, the moment one movie fails to meet expectations the rest wouldn't be done.

Yeah that's one of the things I'm afraid of. If this new Dune doesn't catch on, that's pretty much the end and there isn't much we can do about it.

I'm not sure that it would be possible to go past the first three books and it would probably be better the let it stay that way. The first three books made up a sort of a trilogy, and then the last two books, along with the never-written Dune 7 would have made a second trilogy with GEoD bridging them together, so it looks something like this:

Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune

-3500 year gap-

God Emperor of Dune

-1500 year gap-

Heretics of Dune
Chapterhouse: Dune
Dune 7

Unfortunately Frank died before he could finish Dune 7 though he left an outline.