Editorial Staff
Paramount has failed where David Lynch succeeded – (adopts sarcastic tone) I know, right!? – with a new report suggesting the home of the “Transformers” franchise has failed in their mission to make a feature film version of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi yarn “Dune” (Lynch, of course, took the materials and made the laughably inane 1984 of the same name).
Richard P.Rubinstein, the rights owner of the best-selling sci-fi book, tells Deadline Paramount just couldn’t get it done- or rather, wouldn’t make a “Dune” movie to please “Dune” fans.
“Paramount’s option has expired and we couldn’t reach an agreement…I’m going to look at my options, and whether I wind up taking the script we developed in turnaround, or start over, I’m not sure yet.”
“Dune” had been in development at Paramount for four years, most famously with Peter Berg (“Friday Night Lights”) attached to direct.
By the sounds of it, the studio envisioned a much different kind of picture than everyone else involved.
“Sure, it’s frustrating, how long this has taken, but most of what I’ve done that worked out well over the years, like the miniseries The Stand, took a long time,” Rubinstein said. “Since I know what I want, eventually, I’ll find someone who’ll agree with me. What I like is that talent has interesting things to say on how they would approach it.”
I think Clint’s a bit of a fan of “Dune” so he’d know more about the vision that the rights holders are likely aiming for with the new movie. I’m not sure.
Watch this space.
