Arrival’s Denis Villeneuve Officially Signs On For Dune

If Denis Villeneuve cut his teeth on engrossing drama (see: Prisoners and Sicario), the Oscar-nominated filmmaker has become something of a sci-fi guru for Hollywood studios following the landmark success of Arrival. Even before the cerebral drama descended into theaters late last year, Villeneuve had signed on to direct Blade Runner 2049 in place of Ridley Scott, but we now have official confirmation that the filmmaker has added another genre classic to his bustling slate.

We are, of course, referring to Dune, the long-rumored reboot of Frank Herbert’s sprawling saga that landed at Legendary Entertainment two months back. It didn’t take long before the studio set sights on Villeneuve and now, courtesy of Brian Herbert (son of Frank), we understand said deal is done and dusted.

It's official — Legendary Pictures has signed the very talented Denis Villeneuve to direct the exciting new DUNE series film project.

— Brian Herbert (@DuneAuthor) February 1, 2017

What’s interesting here is that Herbert junior suggests a series of films could be on the way. Whether Dune can spawn a bona fide franchise at Legendary will no doubt hinge on the potential success of Denis Villeneuve’s redo, but given the studio currently holds the IP’s film and TV rights, the folks at Legendary clearly have big, big plans for what is undoubtedly a big, big sci-fi saga.

Dune first graced the silver screen back in ’84, when director David Lynch introduced a cinematic version of Atreides populated with Kyle MacLachlan, Max Von Sydow and Sting. Other attempts at adapting Herbert’s classic in the intervening years proved fruitless, and it wasn’t until Legendary snapped up the Dune rights late last year that the project was revived from the brink of development hell.

Now, the wheels are officially in motion; Denis Villeneuve is on board to direct and develop Dune for Legendary. Next up for the esteemed filmmaker is the release of Blade Runner 2049 on October 6th.