EW's Nicole Sperling is reporting that Paramount has hired Pierre Morel, the director of such rambunctious action flicks as DISTRICT B-13, TAKEN and the upcoming (and very goofy looking) FROM PARIS WITH LOVE, to call the shots on the studio's long-in-development adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi novel DUNE. Morel will take over for Peter Berg, who left the project last October to focus on the more thematically complex likes of Milton Bradley's BATTLESHIP. Have fun with that.
According to Sperling, Morel is planning to be "very faithful" to Herbert's text. Sounds great. But am I the only one a little troubled by Paramount's preference for directors who specialize in gritty, hand-held action? I certainly understand the studio's desire for a DUNE that looks and feels nothing like the two previous adaptations (Lynch's and Sci-Fi's), but I think I'd like something a bit more classical - more Lean than Greengrass. And maybe that's where Morel is going. It's far too early to tell at the moment.
Paramount is currently looking for a new screenwriter to rework - under Morel's direction - the previous draft by QUANTUM OF SOLACE's Josh Zetumer. What kind of DUNE would you like to see?
