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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!"
they've already ruined the dune series- lets hope the trend reverses like Batman Begins did for Batman.
Why redo the first book in the series when there are many more in the service. The current Dune is a great film anyway.
I mean, I like Dune, but how many remakes is enough?
Ok ok, the first one was a bit off (but it had Patrick Stewart and Sting!).
But the Sci-fi Channel version was pretty good.
I just wonder what is to be gained by doing it again.
Why, yes I have been touched by His noodly appendage. And I plan to sue.
Dune is incredibly relevant to our times because it shows how an oppressive power structure exploits a people's resources and make enemies of the natives on Arakkis, it is completely analogous to how we handle oil today. Even more so Dune provides insight into what makes an extremist and their motivations.
Well, luckily this one stands a decent chance of sticking with the book's plot. HOWEVER, having purchased the rights certainly doesn't guarantee this will ever see the light of day. I'll hold my enthusiasm until they tell me they've got a working script.
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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.
The spice is life!
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!
Will it have Sting?
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.
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The sleeper has awakened. Long live the fighters. "Oh-h-h, the Galacian girls Will do it for pearls, And the Arrakeen for water! But if you desire dames Like consuming flames, Try a Caladanin daughter!" I also enjoy the Dune references in Fat Boy Slim's "Weapon of Choice"
But then we'd ruin Hollywood's tradition of messing up good book-to-movie transitions!
Seriously, you would think they learned from peter Jackson that the closer to the book you hold, the more popular it is.
Besides, there's enough nerds out there, that if you get it close enough, they'll be chanting "The DVD is life!"
"Teach a man to build a fire, and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life."
Sorry, it can't be done. It shouldn't be done. The first book of Dune can hardly be encapsulated by one movie, and I'm not even sure it can be done in three.
What makes Dune great is it's breadth of subject matter enveloping politics, revenge, society (both tribal and "civilized"), power, religion, hierarchical hegemony and other big words. Plus, it is driven by an inner monologue from all of the main characters. How the hell do you portray inner monologue on the big screen, or any screen for that matter?
Nope, it promises to be another suckfest, a pissing on Frank Herbert's grave. And if the writer Kevin J. Anderson is involved in any way, it will be more bag-loads of awful than you can stuff into a stadium.
I wish the studios had the courage to break single books into 2 or more movies. And definitely not try and cram 2-3 books into one movie.
It would give the movies more chance to cover the details of the book. Sort of like StarWars 4,5,6. Where the different movies can end on up or down notes in the overall story.
It seems like all Hollywood does these days is re-cover movies they've already made (which were generally adaptations of books in the first place).
Seriously, there's only one of two reasons why these are successful:
1) Nostalgia.
2) The idea was good the first time around.
We're rarely improving on the ideas at all. It's just mindless drivel rereleased again and again.
NBC's fall line up consists of a Jekyll and Hyde remake, followed by Knight Rider, followed by... A movie studio (not sure who) is making another "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure", and yet another is making a sequel to Wargames.
Seriously Hollywood: stop. Just stop it. You're embarrassing yourself.
There are plenty of other books that you could make into movie that would translate well. For example, the Feist series of books, starting with Magician: Apprentice would translate pretty well to the screen.
I currently have no clever signature witicism to add here.
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.
Anybody want my mod points?
... 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.
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.
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but, yes, it's a fantasy. So is almost all SF. Any "SF" that has faster than light travel is (probably, pending further discoveries in physics) a fantasy.
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Now, Ringworld, on the other hand... That's a classic novel that just aches to be made into a movie. A simple, easy to follow adventure story, with interesting characters and plenty of potential for awesome visuals. *crosses fingers*
True... I'll take Omega Man any day over I am Legend.
Dune is incredibly relevant to our times because it shows how an oppressive power structure exploits a people's resources and make enemies of the natives ...
... Dune provides insight into what makes an extremist and their motivations.
That is not relevant to our times, it is relevant to all of human history.
No, *extremists* are usually looking for any excuse or pretext to justify their actions. Legitimate grievances are not required.
Let's hope it's not too true to the original because, Dune aside, that means hours of characters standing around with hundreds of pages of exposition and half-baked "deep" debates on politics, religion and humanity. I'm still a fan of the series, but Herbert really shot his wad after the first two or three books. After that he was just milking a franchise.
However, if they finally let H.R. Giger do the art direction, I will definitely go see it.
I am a believer of momentum and curves.
I've read all of the novels several times (in some cases more). Yes, even the ones written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson (they're nowhere near as good, but still entertaining). The first film was pretty good, and I'll be the first to admit that I'm a big fan of David Lynch's work. However, there were many major inconsistencies, and were it not for the fantastic cast (namely McLachlan, Sting and Stewart) and incredible set design, I would have surely hated it. Then there was the SciFi miniseries, which lacked some of the starpower of the original, but held to the original story MUCH more accurately. There were a couple of minor revisions, but nothing that really upset me. It worked. Children of Dune was something I'd been waiting for nearly all my life (I started reading these VERY young). While some of the dialog felt contrived and forced, it still held true to the books for the most part. Personally, nothing would make me happier than to see God Emperor of Dune translated to film, either a big-budget movie or another miniseries. It is by far my favorite of the novels, and I think it would be visually engaging if done right. I tend to agree that another remake of the original book is completely unnecessary when there is so much more (and better) material to draw from. I can't tell you how aggravating it is that most people believe there's only the one story (Dune). Visit the library, yo. Yes, they can be challenging to read, much like Tolkien, but totally worth it.
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Try this paper. VERY well-written and engaging. It's interesting to see someone attempt to identify the myriad of influences Herbert used to craft these fantastic and detailed worlds. http://baheyeldin.com/literature/arabic-and-islamic-themes-in-frank-herberts-dune.html
"Oh, Florida. Just think, somewhere in this state, right now, Jeb Bush is eating a live puppy."
And the Matheson novella any day over any movie of it.
I don't think there could be a worse person to write it. SR would insist on adding humor, optimism and real human emotion to it. These have no (apparent) place in Dune. At least we would get an idea about what music they were listening to and the best machine with which to brew up some spice and Irish whiskey with. Actually, have him write it.
Corrino is a Latin/Italian name. Harkonnen is German/Dutch. Atreides is Greek. And yes, the Fremen are based on a combination of Muslim and Hebrew cultures and ideologies.
"Oh, Florida. Just think, somewhere in this state, right now, Jeb Bush is eating a live puppy."
There is a lot more Islamic and Arabic stuff in Dune that one thinks.
See Arabic and Islamic themes in Frank Herbert's Dune.
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Interesting paper. Although I always thought that "Crysknife" was taken from the Sikh "Kirpan" rather than the Malaysian dagger as the paper claims. Plus, the Fremen codes of conduct are definitely closer to the Sikh Khalsa Panth than any martial culture in the mideast that I'm aware of (maybe the Pukhtun in Afghanistan, but they're not Arabs either). Also, "Bene Gesserit" seems closer to Hebrew or Akkadian than Arabic per se ("Bene"/"Venei" the Hebraic phonetic of the Semitic root word "Children"; the Arabic is "Banu" I think). Then again, Semitic languages are so closely interconnected that it's hard for the non-linguist/non-native speaker to tell them apart...
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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.
... Zensunni Catholicism" (blatantly ripped from the WP page, don't have my copy of the book handy). That's pretty mixed together if you ask me.
Now you're spot-on about them being semitic, but I would argue against Arabic. Yes, there are a lot of Arabic words borrowed and adapted, but the actual language examples in the book are NOT Arabic based, but rather a dialect of Roma (according to Wikipedia, YMMV). Secondly, even though the Fremen religion is called Zensunni, it is not distinctly Muslim in any way. Based on what we do read of the Fremen religion I would argue that they are more Mizrahi JEW (with Zen sprinkles) than Muslim. Let me make my case:
Herbert played fast and loose with his religion, mixing things around a lot. This ISN'T sloppiness though, since he fully intended to have his religions be amalgams: The appendix in Dune says the Orange Catholic Bible "contains elements of most ancient religions, including
Now, what we actually know about the Fremen religious tradition is mostly centered around the Messianic nature of Paul, which fits in very closely with the Orthodox Jewish notion of the Messiah (anointed leader who takes power and rules etc). The Muslim notion of the Mahdi is vaguely like a messiah, however it is not of the highest cannon (it's only in the Hadith, not in the Qu'ran) and what the Mahdi will do is not always explicitly said. Consequently, it's not a formal doctrine of all Islam and there are vastly different interpretations between sects: The Sufis and some Shias take it pretty seriously, but even those beliefs don't correlate with Paul Atreides very well; the Sunni (>80% of Muslims) are ambivalent about it. This all comes back around to the fact that the Fremen are "Zensunni", not Zensufi or Zenshia, which are given as distinct religious groups.
Another important fact we know about the Fremen is that they spent generations in slavery, and they wandered the galaxy before settling on Arrakis... That's a clue-by-4 of Jewish-ness if there ever was one. No Muslim tradition includes that.
Yes, I know that the Fremen are not the only Zensunni and that Judaism is specifically referenced in the books as a distinct religion, but when you look closely, Herbert made the Fremen Jewish in all but name. It might be too late for this post to get noticed, but I had a fun time blowing my Nerd-load while writing it.
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