Word is out that Banlieue 13 director Pierre Morel has gotten the nod to direct the new version of Dune and, frankly, I'm not happy about it.Though I've generally enjoyed Morel's work - particularly Taken, which is far better than it has any right to be - he has shown me absolutely nothing to demonstrate that he's capable of handling a project of this complexity. But when I started to think of better alternates the list came up very short indeed and so I pose it to you: Who do you think should direct Dune and why? Post your thoughts in the comments thread below.
Cameron...3D three part-epic...he could secure more money for sure. It seems like they want to take Dune in the action direction a la Star Trek but even more so. Sounds like a bad idea to anyone who actually cares. Nolan wouldn't be a bad choice though if it went in that vain...
5 that immediately spring to mind: Richard Stanley, John Hillcoat, Neill Blomkamp and Ridley Scott. And, number 5, none other than Jodorowsky.
With Stanley and Hillcoat they have the visual aesthetics and overall intelligent approach to subtext. Maybe too esoteric and intellectual for some. How they would do with something on such a large scale is to be seen, so they might not have the trust of big money backing. You know both can work under harsh extremes taking films like Dust Devil, Hardware and the Proposition into account.
After District 9 Neill Blomkamp is a proven commodity. He can do a lot on limited budget. While not exactly subtle, one imagines he'll be more than capable working subtext. The fx work his team did on D9 is practically seamless. You can be assured of a great looking film.
Ridley Scott you can trust for working with huge budgets and large scale productions. He's done massive projects in seemingly adverse environments. Not to mention he's a director that can get quality acting out of performers and would be able to entice top actors to the project.
Jodorowsky... well, c'mon, he was attached to the title before. I immediately see Mobius inspired set designs and ultra bizarre narrative. More than likely this isn't going to fly. How old is Alejandro now? Scientists need to invent a machine that instantly materializes thought for Jodorowsky's vision to get off the ground.
A 6th: Gilliam. Sure, a complete risk. Some billionaire needs to let this man's insanity run loose.
Damn, it's easier to think of five directors I DON'T want near this project.
I'd love to see the team of Jeunet and Caro tackle this, but then I remind myself about "Alien Resurrection" and "Dante 01" and I run away screaming...
Paul Verhoeven, people. Paul Verhoeven.
But I think Morel's a great craftsman, and I'm definitely willing to give him a chance.
My choices: Alfonso Cuaron, Darren Aronofsky, Neil Blomkamp, or Duncan Jones.
I have to agree, Cameron, Verhoeven and Ridley Scott are directors who've made large commercially successful films. Dune is an epic tale and it needs a director with a vision capable of tackling the story on that same scale as well as giving the studio a return on its investment.
The key is developing a strong coherent script to offset the inevitable eye candy so the audiences feel satisfied with the experience.
Peter Jackson, or Guillermo del Toro.
Gilliam.
To me, the only obvious name is Christopher Nolan. He has proved time and again that he is one of the few directors capable of making a great movie from a demanding storyline and complicated scenarios. Unlike say, James Cameron, he would preserve the subtlelties and complexities of the narrative while maintaining the movie's watchability.
Quest over! End of story.
PS Am I the only person in the world who actually enjoyed the David Lynch version (apart from Sting's execrable performance?)
As great as many of these names are for the project, the reality is most directors don't want to visit familiar ground. To that end, Morel is probably one of the better choices. He'll stretch. Or break.
Now, if I had my pick, I'd go with Nolan, too. :-)
they are going to totally different way with this franchise, more action orientated stuff and what alot of you people tend to forget is that when it comes to films like this you need someone with a steady-head to get the film made and a good orientation about how to handle the scale...its all good and well waxing about all of these other filmmakers but an undertaking like this is a) very long and intensive and b) a franchise.
I dunno why everyone is going on about Nolan, if you knew anything about the man's work you'd know he likes to write/direct and would stay away from FX-laden stuff...
and seriously, Duncan Jones? Are you mad? i know most of you have a hard-on for Moon, but c'mon, its was a painfully ordinary film only made OK by Rockwell's performance...there was absolutely NOTHING new or innovative about that film.
Jeunet got fucked on Alien 4 and Caro couldn't even get Dante 01 out of the box without it suffering tremendously
John Hillicoat is having such a hard time with getting The Road out, it wouldn't surprise me if he would very deliberately try to stay away from such a film like Dune
Cameron = forget it
Verhoeven -- now that would be excellent but I fear his stock is low and he price is high.
Ridley...the man is an independent, again, if you bothered to take an interest in what he has been looking for /doing of late, you'd see sand and desert stuff would only interest him if it has something to do with the Crusades.
And Jordowsky? ...as interesting as that would be and as interesting it is to see his art for the FIRST attempt at making Dune...would you hand over a bazillion dollars to an old man, who would no doubt make an excellent film -- but would never be a commercial film...they already made an error gambling with Lynch the first time around, why would they want to repeat history
...whilst we at it lets go out of a fucking limb and say Quentin Tarantino...for crying out loud.
Yikes...
Luc Besson, man, elementary! But Morel might not be a bad choice. His action is very good, I guess we haven't seen that much depth and mysticism from him, but he might do a Favreau on us and turn out to have just what it takes. They should all team together, Morel, Besson, Jeunet and Caro, Moebius and Jodo. Let Morel and Besson have the final, more commercially viable, saying, and have them all mix their mad gallic creativity.
Hands down... ARONOFSKY.
Ahhh let Lynch take a swing
Richard Stanley.
Oshii of course, he's already halfway there anyways :)
I threw this up on Facebook, too, and one of the suggestions that came through there was Park Chan-Wook. Which is pretty damn intriguing.
I think the producers are probably looking at the new Star Trek as a model for Dune. Fast and action packed. As such Morel could handle it just fine.
I'd like to see Sean Ellis tackle sci-fi though.
Dune is as much an existential sci fi as it is straight up epic action, it straddles both divides.
Seeing as it involves a certain amount of religious fanaticism as well as epic battle squences, I thought the suggestion of Ridley Scott ideal, he knows sci-fi, he knows epic battles, he can handle fx and big budgets/studios, and he would make sure it had the correct amount of gravitas needed to do the subject matter justice.
If the new Dune is going to dumbed down and popcorned up to the max it would be a damn right shame.
As for Morel, well, all style over substance.
My choice, Ridley Scott, followed by Aronofsky and Neil Blomkamp.
Aronofsky's The Fountain was visually stunning, the historical and religious imagery was handled very well. Neil Blomkamp has obviously left a calling card with District 9 that cannot be easily ignored.
"A 6th: Gilliam. Sure, a complete risk. Some billionaire needs to let this man's insanity run loose."
Under the condition that he's not allowed anywhere near a computer (at least not anything more than 8-bit), of course.
Alfonso Cuaron, yeah he would do it justice! Aronofsky is not a bad choice either. Those two definitely would get the mystical depth of the story right, and the character and action too.
Or how about Brad Bird?
that's an easy one:
Alejandro Jodorowsky
After further reflection, I'd have to drop Cameron from my list. His films are far too focused on central characters to really pull off Dune.
As much as I love Besson, his track record doesn't really lend itself to films without lots of gunplay.
As to agent666's swipe at Scott, he should check out the man's filmography and notice the sheer variety of his work. He works on films that interest him or that he hasn't done before. However, how he'd cast Russel Crowe is anyone's guess.. ;P
I also wonder if Ron Howard's story telling ability has matured enough to handle such a grand project. His last venture into the "epic" territory, "Far and Away" didn't even make it's budget back...
My gut tells me Jodorowsky, since well... since it should be if there is any justice in the world but the guy is old and by the look of it will not finish even his last film, sadly.
So, why not another cartoon writer? Grant Morrison got the psychedelic part down and Johan Sfar is brilliant enough to turn anything into pure gold. Still waiting for his Serge Gainsborough movie.
I think that Spielberg would do this film justice. Dune should not be a star trek or star wars clone that was never the point. I feel if we get a director that can maintain the balance between awesome sci fi action and intelligent writing i would be living on cloud 9 for quite some time. Lynch would never accept another dune project. Verhoeven was an awesome pick for nothing else than i love starship troopers. Top 3 i would like would be Guillermo Del Torro, David Cronenberg, or Terrence Malick. and as a polar opposite to the insanity of the michael bay picture they are going to aim for i would go with Takashi Miike.