1. Dune
Why We Need It: The quintessential sci-fi epic. The story of Paul Atreides rise from the sun of the Duke Leto, betrayed and left to die in the deserts of Arrakis, to the kwisatz haderach and Emperor of the known universe, Dune is to science-fiction what the Lord of the Rings is to fantasy. Without Frank Herberts masterwork, its doubtful there ever would have been a Star Wars, or even a Star Trek. Dune is the standard by which all other space operas should be measured by. Its rare that fictional worlds, cultures, and histories are so brilliantly and realistically brought to life, or that a story is crafted that works on so many levels. Far-flung planets, romance, war, redemption and revenge, the hero journey Dune has it all, and its just begging for a movie adaptation. Granted, its been done before, first by David Lynch in 1984, then again in 2000 as a four hour mini-series by the Sci-Fi channel. Both versions were excellent. The 1984 version, while mostly panned by critics, including
Roger Ebert, at the time of its release for being incomprehensible, was praised by the
author himself. And while the 2000 version was good as well and long enough to include some of the characters and plotlines that just couldnt fit into a theatrical release both versions were lacking a certain something the effects arent great, a plot point doesnt make sense, a character is way older than hes supposed to be. If ever there was a time for Dune to receive a fresh treatment, this is it.
Why We Wont Get It: In 2008 a new adaptation was announced to be in the works, helmed by
Peter Berg (The Rundown, Friday Night Lights). Berg eventually dropped out of production, and after budget problems, reworking of the script, and trouble finding the right director, Paramount, who owns the rights, ultimately
scrapped the project in 2011.
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