When sci-fi novelist Frank Herbert passed away in 1986, he left the world having never seen a proper film adaptation of his popular Dune series. Alejandro Jodorowsky tried and failed in the ’70s. David Lynch managed to get one into theaters by 1984 and yet somehow still failed. And, well, that was that.
Save for a three-part miniseries that aired on SyFy circa 2000, there hasn’t really been much movement to the contrary. In the late aughts, it was believed that Friday Night Lights director Peter Berg was developing something for Paramount, but that never came to fruition. Could you imagine Tim Riggins as Paul Atreides?
Now, it would appear that Legendary Entertainment has some ideas up their sleeves. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio has has picked up the rights to the series “for the development and production of possible film and television projects for a global audience.” Which means we could be seeing the early whispers of a new franchise.
Fans who have long waited to see the source material brought to the screen — the series spans dozens of books ready to be dusted off — will likely take this one with a grain of salt. Still, given that we’re in the age of tentpole blockbusters, Legendary would be foolish not to do something special with this one in the near future.
Whether it’ll be any good is a whole other argument.
