By Travis Johnson
Brian Herbert confirmed it in a tweet: Arrival director, Denis Villeneuve, will direct the new film adaptation for Legendary Pictures. And he oughtta know: Brian’s old man, Frank, wrote the original books.
This makes Villeneuve, in competition for a Best Director Oscar for Arrival, the king reimagining underrapreciated-at-the-time ’80s SF movies; lest we forget, he’s currently beavering away on Blade Runner 2049.
It’s nice to have the recent rumours confirmed. We’ve had two… troubled screen adaptations of the novel in the past and, while David Lynch’s 1984 effort has its fans, you could never say he really nailed the text. Villeneuve, however, is one of the best filmmakers currently working – if anyone can crack it, he can. It’s also worth remembering that Peter Berg was once attached, which means we came way too close for comfort to having Mark Wahlberg play Paul Atreides.
