Dune Movie Remake Signs Arrival Director Denis Villeneuve

The remake of Frank Herbert’s epic saga Dune finally has a director signed up: French Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, known for Sicario (2015) and Arrival (2016). Frank’s son Brian confirmed the signing via Twitter. Legendary Pictures bought all film and TV rights from the Herbert Estate in 2016. David Lynch’s 1984 movie version of the book is the most well-known adaptation of the story but it deviated quite a bit from much of the source material that it alienated many fans while simultaneously confusing those who have not read the book. The 1984 Dune movie also lost a lot of money in the box office, although it had gained a bit of a cult following over the years.

This is another big project for Villeneuve who also handled the upcoming Blade Runner 2049 starring Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling. For many sci-fi fans this is great news considering Villeneuve has a very intense story telling method that lends itself well to deep science fiction. It also helps that he worked with legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins for the Blade Runner sequel who hopefully will work with him for the Dune movie as well.  Considering the Dune saga’s complexity, it will most likely require several films to cover it. Plus there is so much interesting source material that have yet to be mined in the series. Brian Herbert himself confirmed that the film rights purchased by Legendary Pictures involves the entire 19-book catalogue in the series so the first film could be any one of those and not necessarily the first book.