Director Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, Hancock) has been discussing his plans for a new movie version of Frank Herbert’s Dune with SciFiWire. So far no one’s had much luck bringing the sci-fi epic to the screen, with David Lynch’s 1984 flick collapsing under the weight of its ambitions, and the 2000 mini-series being okay but nothing special. However, Berg is planning a new take on the material that he hopes will make his version more commercially successful.
“I think I had a much more different experience, I think, with the book than David Lynch did,” Berg said to SciFiWire. “To me, I think my interpretation will feel significantly different from that and the [Syfy] Channel miniseries that aired. I have a different experience than both of those filmmakers did. [The book] was much more muscular and adventurous, more violent and possibly even a little bit more fun. I think those are all elements of my experience of the book that can be brought in without offending the die-hard fans of the Bene Gesserit and Kwisatz Haderach. There’s a more dynamic film to be made.”
Although it’s difficult to believe Herbert die-hards would accept the book being turned into a more traditional, action epic, it is probably what’s needed to take the dense sci-fi story to a mass audience. It’s also true that modern special effects could allow the film to work a lot better than previous versions, which always felt limited by the technology (and money) needed to put Herbert’s vision on the screen. However at the moment Berg’s still waiting on a workable script, so don’t expect to see it in cinemas for a while yet.