Neill or Neil for Dune, and other things

[Dunenewt]

Now that the rest of the internet have finally caught up with my last post about Peter Berg no longer being attached to direct Dune, it seems Paramount have two more names in mind.  First of all, Neill Blomkamp, who recently directed his first feature film, the South African science fiction hit District 9, and secondly, British director Neil Marshall, best known for the horror film The Descent, although according to Pajiba.com, whilst producer Kevin Misher is in favour of Neil Marshall, Paramount are more reluctant.  What's confirmed on all the sources so far is that the movie will have a budget of $175m(USD), which equates to one million per page of script Joshua Zetumer has written.  To put that into perspective, this year's Star Trek movie had a budget of $150m(USD), so that is a sizeable amount of money!

In more retro news, Techradar mentions Dune II in its feature on how fans are keeping old games alive.  The page specifically mentions Dune II: The Maker (by Fed2k's Stefan), including a screenshot from the game, as well as two other remakes which will be familiar to visitors to our Dune Editing board; Dune Legacy, and Dune II: The Sleeper Has Awakened.

In other Dune II news, the game itself has recently been named as one of the five most revolutionary games in video game history by Peter Molyneux, a leading figure in the gaming industry, and currently the Creative Director of Microsoft Game Studios in Europe.  To read what Peter thought about Dune, and his other four choices, have a look at this article on the Guardian website.

According to a post on io9.com, there is now a course in Biology in Science Fiction being run at Kenyon College, involving the biology involved in the Dune books.  On the post they provide links to the course's online content, which should prove interesting.

Finally, comic book artist Dustin Harbin has started his own Dune Book Club on his blog, which includes Dune cartoon work from various artists, including Paul Pope who was featured in a previous post.  Here's an example from Evan Dahm, another featured artist.  I seriously recommend checking out this blog on a regular basis for new Dune art.

[Dragoon Knight]

Neil Marshall would be my choice, simply due to slightly more experience.  Plus, he directed Dog Soldiers, which is an awesome movie.

To be honest, though, he's just the better of the two.  I wouldn't ideally have either of them directing the new Dune movie, but if it has to be one of them, I'd pick Marshall.  Sure, Blomkamp did Discrict 9, and a few Halo featurettes, which would probably make him more suited to Dune's Sci-Fi setting, but the last thing that Dune needs is more fan-service.

Dune needs what Star Trek got this year; a fresh perspective.  Paramount should just kidnap J.J. Abrams and tie him to the director's chair. :P

[Dunenewt]

Whoops, edited your post by mistake!  I wasn't paying attention at all!

[Dragoon Knight]

You monster!  Censorship! :D

[Dunenewt]

I think that's the first time I've edited someone else's posts.  I keep forgetting I have moderator powers on this board.

[Dante]

Edric did that to me once...

"...mentions Dune II in its feature on how fans are keeping old fans alive."

What, there are so few of us that we're paying for each other's life support now? :P

[Dunenewt]

I could get a job as a Grauniad editor at this rate...

[MrFlibble]

Edric did that to me once...

"...mentions Dune II in its feature on how fans are keeping old fans alive."

What, there are so few of us that we're paying for each other's life support now? :P

Fans are very helpful if it's hot.

[Dante]

While the thought of Dunenewt and SandChigger fanning me with palm leaves does hold some appeal, I'm not sure the community could afford to lose them.

[SandChigger]

Dune needs what Star Trek got this year; a fresh perspective.  Paramount should just kidnap J.J. Abrams and tie him to the director's chair. :P

Oh, just shoot me now. :P "Fresh" does not always mean better. :(

While the thought of Dunenewt and SandChigger fanning me with palm leaves does hold some appeal...

Settle for a spanking instead? ;D

[Dragoon Knight]

Oh don't worry, SandChigger - I'm just as worried as you probably are about which direction Abrams is taking Star Trek.  If he even thinks about touching Picard / TNG, I will end him. :P

But the new Star Trek was pretty awesome.  If done carefully, this "alternate timeline" could be a welcome addition to the canon.

[SandChigger]

I saw <i>Star Drek</i> on the plane back to the States at the end of August. Just as they were diving down to take out the Romulan drilling platform, we hit a lot of turbulence. So the movie got saddled with unfavorable associations. ;)

Basically it was just eye-candy. Flash boom rah! The story made no sense. And the whole "Oops, we destroyed Vulcan, welcome to a new alternate universe!" was too MARVEL comic-book. Or classic Abrams SF? Save the time-travel BS for your next LOST remake, J.J. Gah!

[Dragoon Knight]

Save the time-travel BS for your next LOST remake, J.J. Gah!

That'll be FlashForward, then. :P

[Dante]

Settle for a spanking instead? ;D

Or Dunenewt's for that matter, though at least we live in the same country. Sort of.

Edit - Damn, I've done it again!

[Dunenewt]

That's twice now, I don't know why I keep doing it!

[Dante]

You don't want me sharing naughty secrets of course. Not that there are any. *cough*

[Dunenewt]

What I meant to say at the time, was that we don't live in the same country any more. 

[MrFlibble]

In more retro news, Techradar mentions Dune II in its feature on how fans are keeping old games alive.  The page specifically mentions Dune II: The Maker (by Fed2k's Stefan), including a screenshot from the game, as well as two other remakes which will be familiar to visitors to our Dune Editing board; Dune Legacy, and Dune II: The Sleeper Has Awakened.

Forgot to mention that Dune 2: The Sleeper Has Awakened is now called Dune 2: The Golden Path.

[Dunenewt]

Only one vote on the poll so far?

[MrFlibble]

I don't know those directors, and haven't watched their movies. You should have added an "I don't care" or "I want someone else to direct Dune" option.

[Dunenewt]

I've added an 'other' option.

[MrFlibble]

Here you go :) Thanks.

However, TBH, I am inclined to agree with those people who say that maybe a new Dune movie is a bad idea.

[Dunenewt]

After seeing the Star Trek movie, I'm interested to see what the special effects alone would look like on the Dune film, let alone the rest of it.

[MrFlibble]

I don't like going to cinemas and usually watch everything on TV/computer, so special effects mean little to me as they are not that impressive this way, you know.

BTW, any chance you'll make a news item about the recent projects in Dune Editing, namely OpenDune and OD2? Maybe also mention Nyerguds' Dune II Editor? ;)

[Dunenewt]

Of course I can, I'm just collating a news post about other things right now, and I'll try to create a Dune Editing news post in the next couple of days.  I was just thinking about posting a thread in the Dune Editing board asking people to submit news actually.