Dune movie writer named: Eric Roth, who adapted Forrest Gump to Oscar glory, will bring Frank Herbert’s classic book to screens.
Forrest Gump writer Eric Roth will write the screenplay for Denis Villeneuve’s planned redo of Frank Herbert‘s book Dune. The news of the Dune movie writer was announced by trade bible Variety. The film has been in active development over at Legendary, which has rights for film and television.
If you’re unfamiliar with the source material, here’s a recap from the original source.
Set in the far future amidst a sprawling feudal interstellar empire where planetary dynasties are controlled by noble houses that owe an allegiance to the imperial House Corrino, Dune tells the story of young Paul Atreides (the heir apparent to Duke Leto Atreides and heir of House Atreides) as he and his family accept control of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the ‘spice’ melange, the most important and valuable substance in the cosmos. The story explores the complex, multi-layered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion as the forces of the empire confront each other for control of Arrakis.
Published in 1965, it won the Hugo Award in 1966 and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel. Dune is frequently cited as the world’s best-selling sf novel.
The book has sold 20 million copies since it was first published. It was previously committed to film in 1984 by David Lynch, a movie that starred Sting and Kyle MacLachlan. The film included a soundtrack by the rock band Toto, as well as Brian Eno, though was met with poor critic reviews, including one from the legendary Roger Ebert who said: “This movie is a real mess, an incomprehensible, ugly, unstructured, pointless excursion into the murkier realms of one of the most confusing screenplays of all time.” Commercial reception wasn’t great either with the film grossing just $30.9 million on a $40 million budget.
Villeneuve is currently hard at work on the highly anticipated Blade Runner 2049, and of course, is behind the hits Sicario and Prisoners, as well as last year’s Oscar nominee Arrival. Roth also wrote the screenplays for the likes of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Steven Spielberg’s Munich, and also Forrest Gump, which won him the Academy Award.
No word on when exactly this one will roll into production on TV or indeed on film (both formats are being looked at), but we’ll keep you posted.
