Peter Berg Does Not Control The Spice After All
Wed, October 28, 2009 
With the likes of Battleship and the Hancock sequel on his immediate “To Do” list, director Peter Berg was going to have to give something up. Granted, it’s perfectly normal for a filmmaker to have multiple properties in development. But most of them never wind up happening. That’s just how it works, ladies and germs.
Now according to the website Pajiba (and quickly confirmed by CHUD), one such causality is the Dune remake he's been attached to direct for about a year and a half now. With Berg off, it’s left the studio (in this case, Paramount) scrambling to find a replacement.
Again as per their sources, the afore-mentioned Pajiba says two such candidates appear to be Neil Blomkamp (coming off District 9’s success this past summer) and The Descent director Neil Marshall. Of course, the former just announced his next project (another foray into the science fiction genre) and the latter is doing…presumably something.
Another issue appears to be that of Dune’s ever-expanding budget. They’re looking for someone who can work with their current $175 million and keep the production at (and/or more preferably below) that number. All of that and it has to look great, but nothing like the ill-fated 1984 David Lynch-helmed incarnation.
I wish you the best of luck, guys. But can’t see anything good (if anything at all) happening with Dune. Nobody wants another Golden Compass and that’s, in all probability, what you’d get. Ironically that was referred to as a “modern day equivalent of Dune” back during my very first edition of Movie Moan with Phil back in December 2007.
Reader Comments (1)
" but nothing like the ill-fated 1984 David Lynch-helmed incarnation."
I actually liked the '84 movie, even though there was a lot more to the book. I liked the production design especially. And those wacky eccentic Harkonnens. When Sci-Fi/SyFy did thier Dune, the miniseries covered more of the book....but it didn't do anything for me. The sequel (Children Of Dune) was boring.
I personally don't see a new "Dune" happening. Better to pull the plug.