By Travis Johnson
Remember in Forrest Gump when ol’ Forrest decides to run across America a few times and accidentally gathers a cult of followers who think he has all the answers? That sequence was written by Eric Roth, who will bring that canny understanding of the social dynamics underpinning religion when he adapts Frank Herbert’s insanely complex SF doorstopper, Dune, for Arrival and Sicario director, Denis Villeneuve.
For those who came in late, Dune is “…set in the distant future amidst a feudal interstellar society in which noble houses, in control of individual planets, owe allegiance to the Padishah Emperor, Dune tells the story of young Paul Atreides, whose noble family accepts the stewardship of the desert planet Arrakis. As this planet is the only source of the ‘spice’ melange, the most important and valuable substance in the universe, control of Arrakis is a coveted — and dangerous — undertaking. The story explores the multi-layered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion, as the forces of the empire confront each other in a struggle for the control of Arrakis and its ‘spice’.”
That probably didn’t clear up anything. Go read the book.
Roth is a pretty big gun when it comes to putting words on paper – he wrote Munich, The Insider, and Ali, after all. He also wrote The Postman and The Horse Whisperer but heck, everyone has an off day. Still, he’s gonna need to be on his game for this undertaking: like drinking the Water of Life*, adapting Dune is a treacherous undertaking not for the faint of heart – ask Alexander Jodorowsky or David Lynch. Don’t ask John Harrison, though – his miniseries for the Syfy Channel was pants.
Looks like we’ll be getting this one sooner rather than later, assuming the wheels don’t come off.
*Really, go read Dune. It’s amazing,.
