We’ve had a pretty stellar cast coming together for the Dune feature film and now Warner Bros. is putting a date to the project. The film, which is still planned as a two-part piece cover the first expansive book, is scheduled for a November 20th, 2019 debut. It’s being planned with IMAX and 3D showings as well as the traditional route. The film is directed by Denis Villeneuve working from the script he worked on with Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts.
The film previously cast Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem.
The first book has sold some twelve million copies in the 50+ years since its debut and it’s one that has been largely considered unfilmable because so much of it revolves on internal dialogue, politics, intrigue and other small elements. It is, in my thinking, the kind of ideal show for a premium cable network as it really does require the length of time to tell the tale and dig into the expansive cast. I actually began re-reading the books once again this year, something I seem to do every seven years or so, and am in the midst of Children of Dune so that I can get to my favorite of the core four with God Emperor of Dune. I can see how these can be filmed but it requires a kind of reinvention on the previous views of how to do it, moving away from some of the 60′s inspired visuals that populated Jodorowsky and Lynch’s attempts at the project for something a little more, weirdly to say, traditional but with the grand scope.
Plot concept: Set in the distant future, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides whose family accepts control of the desert planet Arrakis. As the only producer of a highly valuable resource, control of Arrakis is highly contested among the noble families. After Paul and his family are betrayed, the story explores themes of politics, religion, and man’s relationship to nature as Paul leads a rebellion to restore his family’s control of Arrakis.
