Legendary Pictures Actively Scouting Locations for ‘Dune’

While fans of Frank Herbert‘s epic series Dune have been waiting for the “perfect” adaptation for some time, there is no denying the appeal of the versions we’ve gotten thus far.

David Lynch‘s ’80s take, while imperfect and fraught with issues ranging from budget woes to “the weirding way” — seriously, Lynch didn’t want the Bene Gesserit fighting style to look like Kung Fu, hence the vocal thing — it remains a classic.

The BBC/SYFY miniseries adaptation had its problems, taking even more liberties (arguably) with the characters and narrative than Lynch did. However, it told more of the story and even ventured into the sequel book, The Children of Dune.

Legendary Pictures has been working on a new adaptation for some time, with Oscar-nominated director Denis Villeneuve at the helm and Brian Herbert (Frank’s son, and author himself) on board as a consultant. We know there have been a few scripts turned in (and revised), and according to a tweet from Brian today, Legendary is looking at possible filming locations right now.

“Intense activity on the movie . . . While the next draft of the screenplay is being written, Legendary also has a scout at work, ltraveling to several countries to look at possible filming locations . . . for desert and other scenes,” Brian tweeted.

Intense activity on the movie . . . While the next draft of the screenplay is being written, Legendary also has a scout at work, ltraveling to several countries to look at possible filming locations . . . for desert and other scenes. pic.twitter.com/1Vh9fKheUJ

— Brian Herbert (@DuneAuthor) June 16, 2018

Brian has been the best source for information on the project; he often comments when a new draft of the script has been turned in or is being edited. Or, as he said back on the 10th, pre-production updates.

[1] Legendary will send me the next draft of the DUNE screenplay around July 4th, for my comments. The focus now is on developing the characters, on making the scenes more visual for filming, and on matching up with the Dune canon, as laid out by Frank Herbert. More… pic.twitter.com/pXwwYeuc2L

— Brian Herbert (@DuneAuthor) June 11, 2018

… [2] There is also more going on behind the scenes in the Pre-Production process, including making decisions on actors / actresses and on where to film.

— Brian Herbert (@DuneAuthor) June 11, 2018

Needless to say, on a personal level, I am incredibly hungry for Villeneuve’s version of Dune, and so is Harkonnen Knife Fight the band.