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EXCLUSIVE: Paramount has turned loose the giant worm, and everything else that was part of the seminal Frank Herbert science fiction novel series Dune. The studio’s four-year attempt to make a movie out of the franchise has fallen by the wayside. Paramount and the rights holders came to a parting of the ways as the rights lapsed. “Paramount’s option has expired and we couldn’t reach an agreement,” said Richard P. Rubinstein, who controls the rights to what is considered the biggest-selling science fiction book ever. “I’m going to look at my options, and whether I wind up taking the script we developed in turnaround, or start over, I’m not sure yet.”
Dune tells the story of an interplanetary battle for control of the desert planet Arrakis and its supply of Melange, a spice that can be ingested. Those who take it live longer and have a prescient sense of awareness. The substance is necessary for space travel. The book was turned into a 1984 flop by David Lynch, but a miniseries that came later fared better.
Rubinstein said that Paramount’s exit came down to dollars, but the producer said he and the rights holders were OK with it. “Sure, it’s frustrating, how long this has taken, but most of what I’ve done that worked out well over the years, like the miniseries The Stand, took a long time,” Rubinstein said. “Since I know what I want, eventually, I’ll find someone who’ll agree with me. What I like is that talent has interesting things to say on how they would approach it.” Rubinstein had been producing with Kevin Misher, but everything’s up in the air at the moment. “Right now, Dune has no commitments or attachments,” he said. Rubinstein and his company New Amsterdam made the Dune miniseries, and he is the gatekeeper for the rights on behalf of the author’s estate and ABC. Even though Pete Berg dropped out to do Battleship, Dune for a time looked like it had a fighting chance. Rubinstein and Misher quite liked the job that Taken helmer Pierre Morel did in collaborating with Chase Palmer. They managed to get a script that cut the mammoth subject matter down to a compelling story that could be told at feature length. Rubinstein said that he would probably re-approach Morel and Palmer, but those conversations haven’t yet happened. All they now need is a financier ready to put up the $100 million or so in production budget needed to get the film under way. If they do use the Palmer script, Paramount stands to recoup some of its development costs.
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I really enjoyed both the Dune and Children of Dune miniseries – the latter was my introduction to James McAvoy. I didn’t know they were trying to make a movie, though.
As the DGA Trainee on the original “DUNE” directed by David Lynch in 1983 lets not forget if i’m not mistaken a 6 hour + directors cut was originally turned in by David which then had to be whittled down to the 2 hour and 40 minute feature release….wouldn’t it be cool to take that original footage and maybe release a theatrical “feature” miniseries from the footage??? Just thinking out loud guys…..So much story telling, so many sets, so many scenes that never made it due to time constraints……I think it’s worth taking another look at that footage.
@ Wolf
Yes, please!
2nd!
C’mon Universal, don’t you want to make some $? Tons of Lynch fans & film lovers would pay @ least $20 for a DVD of Lynch’s complete vision.
3rd. as a lifelong Lynch fan I am dying to see that 6 or whatever hour version!
Well some of us would pay $49.99 for the “complete” Lynch version.
I would!
When you watch the film it feels very top heavy and I am sure the extra footage would give some balance to Lynch’s dark vignettes scattered throughout the film. You knew a vision in there was dying to come out. In its current form it is very disappointing and that is why it is mostly forgotten and why despite the good suggestion of Ian’s I’m afraid it will remain so if left to the studio heads unless David himself became involved.
I’d even cough up $25!
Umm, they did an extended release of the movie with the added parts.
Lynchs version SUCKS ASS.
IT is an allegory about OIL, religion, the human condition and political power.
I actually just reread it. And unless you can throw in some wizards or vampires, all played by the next up and coming teen splash of the month, well you’re going to have a hard time with a broad appeal.
And lynch changed the story, a story like this is character driven and the sci-fi needs to be minimal.
Umm… I’m curious how you saw the “full” vision? The only extended cuts released were one of 189 minutes, the one that Lynch petitioned to have his name removed from so he didn’t approve of and was only sold via laserdisc in Japan and bootleg VHS here. The so-called “extended edition” that was widely released is actually shorter than the theatrical release.
Yes, the character development is of great importance which is why we’d like to see a true Lynch-approved version. To see if that is what Lynch wanted when he first brought his ‘finished’ work to the studio at around, supposedly, 6 hours.
As Lynch couldn’t get backing and support for a “full” telling, of course things in the book were changed. Just so you know, in “Star Wars,” items are left out in the movie that were in the book and Lucas wrote the book.
“IT is an allegory about OIL, religion, the human condition and political power.”
So is THE BOOK!
What a wanker.
Lynch brought an atmosphere that still plays in my mind when ever i sit back down with the novels. Plus what they achieved visually and effects wise for the early 80′s is truly a grand accomplishment. NO CGI!
They were associating Robert Pattinson with this at one point, can you imagine?
This source material is too complex, too intricate and too good to be shrunk into 2 hour one-off movie. I can’t bear the thought of Hollywood reducing it to a ‘chosen-one-superbeing-messiah’ story, without any of the innate cynicism and thoughtfulness about religion, politics and predestination.
They’d turn it into an insipid fairytale.
Where do i buy my tickets ????
Do the Sequels mans we are waiting !!!
Not really. The 2 hour 40 minute version was almost unwatchable. Some of the performances were downright painful to watch (Sting). I don’t see how a 6 hour version is going to be any better. I’m a big David Lynch fan but this is his worst film by far(and he agrees on that).
Lynch washed his hands of that mess as soon as he was done making it.
There was a extended version of Dune that played on TV that added back some scenes, but they also added a crappy narrator. It was great to see the scenes, but I would really love to see that six hour version.
The extended version of Dune was NOT overseen by David Lynch hence the “Directors Credit” reads’
AN ALAN SMITHEE FILM”….it certainly would be interesting to see what David would do almost 30 years later with all that footage with all his experience he’s garnered since then. Remember when he directed DUNE he only had two credits to his name, “Elephant Man” and “Eraserhead”, imagine all his knowledge since then put to work recutting.
There was never a 6 hour cut. The 4 hour cut was basically all the film that was shot, alternate angles, coverage, etc. Lynch’s finished film would have been about 3 hours, but he had to compromise so much during the shooting that the film was never actually filmed in a way that could be completed into a true director’s cut. That extended cut shown on television pretty much puts in all the usable footage and they still had to shoot new stuff for it to make any sense.
It is a myth that there are 6 hours worth of Lynch’s work out there. The extended version of Lynch’s movie that came out on DVD a few years ago (and had also been shown on TV in a 2 part mini series) is about all the footage that there is. It does allow the non Dune fan to get a slightly more complete story with the addition of an awkward storyboard type intro with voice over, and some additional voice over scenes here and there. Although better than the 2:20 hour version it is barely 3:00 hours long and some of the extended scenes are just elongated and hardly useful. That version seems to have been made to take advantage of the fans out there who propagate the myth that there is 6 hours worth for footage from which to make a decent movie. That is simply not true. Lynch distanced himself from that extended version and did not allow his name to appear as the director on that version. If there was more footage to be re-arranged, the studios and him would have certainly attempted it in this era of mini series movies.
No, the theatrical version had to be reduced to 2 hours 17 minutes.
The politics of Dune do not easily translate to the screen I believe. I would rather see someone do Asimov’s original Foundation trilogy. It would be easier to follow as the only arc in the story is that the Empire, once with tendrils throughout the galixy, is now collapsing upon itself. Knowledge is lost on the outer edges. One man, Hari Seldon, had taken mathematics so far as to created a way to predict not only the fall of the Empire but how long it would last…or do your own logline.
This would be a great series…like Harry Potter.
@Bill: The politics of Dune do not easily translate to the screen I believe.
Really?
Ever hear of the global conflict over oil? Or the Palestinian/Israeli conflict?
Absolute allegorical connections.
Did you even read the books?
People fucking love giant blockbusters with allegorical connections to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.
What does any of that have to do with translating a book to the screen?
(The oil point is valid, but the Palestinian/Israeli? Huh? May as well invoke Arrakis=Iraq.)
The Arrakis/Iraq argument displays a stunning ignorance of astronomy which was a part of Herbert’s research. Al Rakis is the real-life Arabian name for the star Mu Draconis, which was the parent star of the planet Arrakis in Dune.
Asimov’s FOUNDATION is in the works — to be directed by Roland Emmerich, supposedly. I hope they make it. I hope Emmerich is not the director.
I enjoyed Lynch’s “Elephant Man” and “Blue Velvet” but his version of Frank Herbert’s novel was a complete mess—and it wasn’t just the editing.
The only people who rummage through recycling bins are street people, the unemployed, retired folks, and Creative Executives.
Get some new material guys! If you want to reinvigorate this business, enough of the lazy rehash.
I’m not sure how well Dune will translate to film…seems a little to vast a universe to populate on film. Ridley Scott was supposed to do a Dune film back in the early 80′s after Alien, but he left the project when he was offered Blade Runner. Thank God for it.
Errr no – Ridley Scott was already in development on Dune BEFORE Alien. It was going to be his second feature film. He had Giger working on the designs. Then for whatever reason it didn’t come together and Ridley swapped to Alien taking Giger and his designs with him.
Over and out. Please, if there is a God. It’s been done to death between the feature and the miniseries.
Mr. Rubinstein, there’s nothing left! Does the term “flogging a dead horse” mean anything to you?
Agreed. Paramount was smart to dump this movie. There’s not a lot of new territory left between the old movies and miniseries that have been produced.
Somethings should just stay a book. This is a fantastic book series but it isn’t one that I want to see as a film as it will always dissappoint me. Despite “meh” performances, the SyFy mini-series were probably closer to the concepts of the books then I had hoped for but still weren’t good enough (though better then Lynch’s disaster)
But I don’t need to see it done again. Try something else. Why the heck can’t “Altered Carbon” get a damn foothold somewhere? Or “Ender’s Game” ?
Ender’s Game would be brilliant. I’d love to see someone write an awesome adapted screenplay and have Ridley Scott or James Cameron direct it. I think someone else is making a Ender’s Game film though.
Gavin Hood is doing ENDER’S GAME. Good director of TSOTSI, got worse with the forgettable bomb RENDITION, then ruined a franchise with WOLVERINE.
“They managed to get a script that cut the mammoth subject matter down to a compelling story that could be told at feature length.” – With all due respect Mr. Fleming, it is highly doubtful they can do Dune justice in less than three hours.
I’m quite pleased at this news.
Not only am I tired of remakes (and reimaginings and reboots) and happy to see another planned one fail, I’m also delighted by the failure this represents for those currently milking the Dune cash cow.
There are a couple of books overdue for adaptation – ‘Ender’s Game’ and ‘Stranger In A Strangeland’.
The last I read and this was a few years ago, the movie for ‘Ender’s Game’ was on track. The director had been hired but quit in creative differences with Orson Scott Card, who wrote the screenplay. I’ve read nothing more since.
The film rights to ‘Stranger’ were once held by Tom Hanks. I read he sold them to another producer. No further news.
We don’t need another film of ‘Dune’. Both ‘Ender’s Game’ and ‘SIASL’ are as popular, with legions of fans.
Ender’s Game and The Catcher in the Rye are two novels that I think just should not be filmed. At least not right now. Everything needs to grow a bit before that to happen. Unfortunately, it will be our Grandchildren-at least- who could pull it off.
I think a remake now would be particularly appropriate. After all, what is Dune but the story of Man who in his atavistic zeal for vengeance unites a bunch of religious fanatics. Finally, having used said fanatics to achieve his revenge, he unleashes them in a jihad upon the galaxy.
Mm, more or less. There’s the galactic-scale manoeuvering and manipulation going on behind him. Paul’s the realising of a prophecy, but not quite what was expected. Lots of plot threads to get crossed over and interwound.
More than that, though, the atmosphere is amazing! Even Lynch’s version, possibly the only film I’ve seen which is better than the book. There’s more imagination and ideas in 5 seconds of Dune than the entire careers of some directors. It’s EPIC! And a good epic is always worth seeing.
OTOH the 1984 film was good enough, why make a new one? Everything’s so false nowadays, and Lynch is an artist. So were the others who worked on it.
When reading the book, the story kept me turning the pages, even tho Herbert’s writing is a bit of an effort to slog through. It doesn’t exactly scintillate.
There are great Science Fiction books out there with plot lines dying to be made into movies. Why Hollywood persist in trying to bring untranslatable stories or worse inferior ones to the screen is a long standing frustration with me. Ask ten Science Fiction readers for a list of 5 books and you would end up with a list of 50 different and great ideas for a movie.
Will people please stop with the Enders Game talk? Loved the book, but I don’t see it as being nearly as compelling on film.
Talk to Spider Robinson about the “Crosstime Saloon” You want “Original?” Try some…
Actually there are many ways to revamp this story into a viable movie. For starters the advancements in SFX alone could drive this movie. the other plus is if the first installment goes well they can move on and show and material from the rest of the series like God Emperor which has yet to be portrayed in live action, which i wished scifi had done after Children of Dune. Then there are the Prequel books that where just as amazing. As an avid Dune fan i would pay to see each and every installment they can push out. knowing that Rubinstein is watching over the scripts makes this very interesting.
Both those miniseries were dreadful.
Dune is simply too long and complex of a story of a feature film to do it justice. The mini series was better but still had it’s problems.
The only way I see that it could be really done well is something along the lines of a maxi series 13-26 hour long episodes with a massive budget.
Another challenge with “Dune” is that so much of the most intriguing action takes place in the minds of the characters – the battles of will, the prescience, the thought reading and control, the mental chess games. As written by Herbert in literary form, that stuff reads thrillingly… but it is difficult to film.
When is the Morgan Freeman produced adaptation of “Rendezvous With Rama” getting made? The last I heard David Fincher was attached to direct after he makes 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.
Anybody?
“…and its supply of Melange, a spice that can be ingested.”
If you can’t ingest it, it isn’t a spice.
Spice isn’t really a spice. It’s a drug, just called spice. Hence “ingested” rather than “eaten”. Technically it’s very probably wormshit.
It’s not wormshit… you obviously read “God Emperor of Dune”…
They tried and failed… twice (didn’t like the TV series either). Some books just don’t/can’t translate to screen.
Add me to the good sized list of people who would LOVE to purchase that FULL version of Lynch’s Dune. It has a lot of detractors, but I personally thought it was a great film, and would be happy to shell out for a ‘Deluxe’ Blue-Ray edition with all the footage restored.
Yes. I have the blu-ray that exists, and it is the theatrical release. I too would shell out for a deluxe dvd that features the “smithee” version. I agree that the opening narration is a little annoying, but the movie doesn’t make sense without the scenes that are cut out in the original Lynch version, if you haven’t read the books.
Dune is too complex for the mainstream market right now. You either do a 3hr epic version or you go home. If anything it should recieve the HBO mini series treatment since Sci-Fi fucked it up already.
I could be wrong here, but I think the last DVD that came out of Lynch’s DUNE had Raphael DeLaurentis (who produced the Lynch version) on screen saying that a 6-hour cut is Urban Legend. They include a lot of the cut scenes on the DVD, but nothing is really comprehensible. The Alan Smithee cut is HORRIBLE.
Does anyone else feel that this would make an awesome TV show today? Steven DeKnight running it for Starz? Can someone set up the meeting please?