Posted in: Film Promo, Movies | Tagged: brian herbert, dune, film, frank herbert

It's Official: The Dune Reboot Has Found Its Director

Published Wed, 01 Feb 2017 00:11:43 -0600

Last updated Wed, 01 Feb 2017 04:19:12 -0600

It has been rumored for a while that Legendary Pictures had been courting Sicario and Arrival director Denis Villeneuve for their upcoming Dune reboot. Now in under 140 characters, Brian Herbert (son of Dune author Frank Herbert) has confirmed that the contracts have all been signed, and Villeneuve will be directing.

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

Back in late November, we'd reported on Legendary having secured the rights to the Dune series of novels from the Frank Herbert estate. The deal gives Legendary the option for both film and television rights worldwide. Brian's tweet implies that Villeneuve will be attached to the film project, and we'll keep an eye out for any news on around the TV front. It seems that studios are looking to go wider than a single format lately, with Lionsgate developing the Kingkiller Chronicles simultaneously for both TV and Film.

The Dune projects would be produced by Thomas Tull, Mary Parent and Cale Boyter, with Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt and Kim Herbert serving as executive producers.

The property has been developed several times previously, with the 1984 David Lynch version being the most well known, with Twin Peaks star Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides. A few years ago MacLachlan took to twitter to explain the plot of Dune in a single tweet to a fan unfamiliar with the story: