Dune - To Be Directed by Pierre Morel (Taken)

[Lindley]

Really, the only problem with the 2000 miniseries was the budget. Other than that, it was pretty much ideal.

 

[Reverend]

^I'd slightly disagree with that. The first mini had problems that were more rooted in conception, execution and casting than budget, though yes, some of the monetary limitations did hinder it somewhat. I think all my complaints can probably be simply summed up by saying it felt more like a stage production than a film and I'm not just talking about that painted backdrop. Case in point - the sietch orgy scene. Primary colour lighting and a bunch of not-fremen-looking-at-all pretty young people acting as if their doing a choreographed expressionist dance routine (yes I know they were, but that's not the point.) Also, that squeaky voiced young fremen just totally took me out of it. "but you are the Mah-squeek-di!" *shudder*
Still, I agree it was damn near optimal and as I've previously stated, most of the above mentioned problems were corrected in CoD. I just wish they'd actually bothered to design actual ornithopters!

 

[Nardpuncher]

and don't forget that horrible acting by that Mentat guy near the end in the mini-series!

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Pierre Morel spoke to the MTV Movies Blog about Dune. Here are the salient parts:

“As a David Lynch movie, I loved it,” he said of the 1984 Dune adaptation by the famously trippy Twin Peaks filmmaker. “As a Dune fan, I was not such a big fan.”

Instead, Morel plans on taking his movie in a very different direction – and back to the roots of the groundbreaking 1965 book that is reportedly the best-selling sci-fi novel of all time.

“Oh my God yes, I’ve been a fan of that book – because I will not refer to the movie – I’ve been a fan of the book since I was a teenager. I read that when I was 15, maybe,” Morel said.

“I’ve been reading it over and over again – well, I’m 45 now, so for 30 years. The fun story, actually, is that there were six books in that first series that Frank Herbert wrote. Every time I was going to buy a new one – because I couldn’t buy all six at one time – I was reading the previous ones so I would not forget anything. So, by the time I bought the sixth book I had already read the first one six times! So, I’m a hardcore fan.”

"[My movie] is all about the first book. I’m trying to be very respectful to the original novel,” he explained. “But it’s a challenge; there’s a lot of expectation, all the readers will be waiting for me with their shotguns. All the non-readers will also be waiting for us, because it’s such a complex, rich novel and you have to make it accessible to those who have not read the book. So, it’s a tough challenge but I’m very excited about that.”

Morel hopes that Dune will be the next movie he’ll shoot, and that fans will want to re-visit it as many times as he has Herbert’s original novel.

 

[Starbreaker]

At least he's read the book. I'm on board!

 

[The Wormhole]

I'll admit some optimism after reading those comments from him.