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Arrival Director Denis Villeneuve Might Take on the Unadaptable Dune

The 22nd Annual Critics' Choice Awards - Roaming Show
Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for The Critics’ Choice Awards

Sci-fi “It” guy Denis Villeneuve might be going after one of Hollywood’s white whales. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 director is in talks to bring his impeccable visual sensibilities to a remake of Dune. Last month, Legendary acquired the rights to develop film and TV projects based on Frank Herbert property, and they are clearly ready to get a jump on the remake by lining up interviews with directors brave enough to stare into the Dune abyss without being driven to madness. The movie turned out to be a fantastic failure for director David Lynch in 1984, then became a tepid SyFy channel series, and then a stalled theatrical endeavor for Paramount in the mid-2000s, when it gained and lost a pair of directors before slipping back into the ether. If Villeneuve can successfully shepherd this one to screen and deliver a good Blade Runner sequel, can someone just hand him an Alien movie right now? There might be a new kid on Ridley Scott’s block.

Arrival’s Denis Villeneuve Might Direct Dune