Originally published December 22, 2016. Updated April 11, 2018.
Last month, news broke that Legendary had closed a deal for the television and film rights to Frank Herbert’s seminal science fiction novel, Dune. Now, it appears that the studio has found a director for a film reboot of the project, and it’s someone with a history of rebooting beloved and enigmatic science fiction tales: Blade Runner 2049 helmer Denis Villeneuve.
According to Variety, Villeneuve (whose other film credits include Prisoners, Sicario and this year’s acclaimed sci-fi pic Arrival) is in early talks to helm the Dune reboot. It’s unknown at this time whether or not he’d be involved with any potential television projects as well.
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.”
