I learned today for the first time that a remake of the awesome book (and decidedly less awesome early 80s movie) Dune is being made, and is currently in post-production with a release date of December 18, 2020.
The cast includes many I don't know, but the ones I do know seem excellent for their roles. It's damn near a Marvel reunion...
Jason Mamoa as Duncan Idaho (the swordmaster of House Atreides)
Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck (weaponsmaster of House Atreides, played memorably (and surprisingly) by Patrick Stewart in the original movie
Stellan Skarsgard as Baron Harkonnen
Dave Bautista (better known as Drax the Destroyer) as "Beast" Rabban, the nephew of Harkonnen
This film is also only going to cover the first half of the book, which is good. It's really not possible to cover the whole thing in one 2 or 3 hour movie.
Anyway -- I love the book and a really good film would be great. What say you about all this news? Or am I just the last to known (as would be typical, to be honest!) [Reply]
Originally Posted by Frazod:
But how are they going to make Skarsgard believable as the Baron? In my mind's eye I've always pictured the Baron as an evil Orson Welles (his later years when he was fat as hell). Neither the abortion that was the '84 movie or the miniseries got him right.
Skarsgard has really good range. He was completely believable as a Russian apparatchik in Chernobyl, and remember that "Vladimir Harkonnen" was based, loosely, on a harshly named Soviet-style ruthless dictator type. If they can make Gary Oldman look like Winston Churchill in his fatter years (though not as morbidly obese as Harkonnen needs to be) then I'm pretty certain they can get Skarsgard there visually. I'm pretty confident in the casting here.
But yeah, we have no reason for real confidence until we see it and it proves itself. It's just a tough story to "get right" on the screen. Lord of the Rings was no worse, though, and Jackson pulled it off pretty damn well. There's stuff about it I dislike, but on balance, he did a helluva job. Let's keep our fingers crossed for a similar result with Dune. [Reply]
Originally Posted by keg in kc:
The mini-series on sci-fi was good, so it's doable.
It may just be like so many other novels: there's too much to cover in 2-3 hours.
It is, WHICH IS WHY THIS MOVIE IS THE FIRST HALF OF THE BOOK ONLY!
Which I quite like. Not shouting above, just want to make sure everyone knows this, because it's pretty f'ing important in my mind. There's just no way to do it in 3 hours even. [Reply]
Originally Posted by burt:
1) The Stand-Steven King
2) The Second Son- Charles Sailor
3) Dune- Frank Herbert
4) Stranger in a Strange Land-Robert Heinlein
Not a bad list. I'm still waiting for a movie based on Starship Troopers to be made. [Reply]
Read something yesterday that said footage from this was viewed by industry people in the last couple of weeks, and the reaction was comparisons to Lord of the Rings. In terms of the impact it may have and the technical advances on display.
Originally Posted by Bowser:
Everybody back up and give Frazod some room in here
Heh. I've already said my peace. I loved the new Blade Runner and I'm willing to give this guy the benefit of the doubt. Barely.
The problem, IMO, is there's just too much material to adequately cover in a 2-3 hour movie. Dune should be an Amazon/Netflix HBO miniseries. I'd feel much better about that. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Frazod:
Heh. I've already said my peace. I loved the new Blade Runner and I'm willing to give this guy the benefit of the doubt. Barely.
The problem, IMO, is there's just too much material to adequately cover in a 2-3 hour movie. Dune should be an Amazon/Netflix HBO miniseries. I'd feel much better about that.
I believe it's going to be two movies. I think it's doable if they're on the longer side. [Reply]