They've captivated the imaginations of untold sci-fi fans for decades, but even as the inhabitants of Frank Herbert's Dune books have expanded their reach to encompass videogames, comics, posthumous prequels and sequels, and TV miniseries, a truly satisfactory film adaptation has remained out of reach. According to CHUD, all that may be about to change.

Dune has made a trip to the big screen before, of course, courtesy of director David Lynch in 1984. Lynch's vision of Dune, however, was given a lukewarm critical and commercial reception; Roger Ebert, for instance, referred to it as "a real mess" and "an incomprehensible, ugly, unstructured, pointless excursion into the murkier realms of one of the most confusing screenplays of all time." In 2000 and 2003, the Sci-Fi Channel broadcast a new Dune and followed it up with Children of Dune, both of which were more warmly received than Lynch's film, but were still found lacking by some fans.

Now, reports CHUD, the admin of the official Dune forums is telling fans that Herbert's stories might be headed back to a theater near you. From the article:

"We're getting VERY close to a deal. Heard that news today," he posted on Friday, following that up with, "Although only rumor, I've heard that 'someone' at the studio wants Dune reallllly bad and has been a fan of the novel for 'years.' They're not saying who this is (and it might just be hype) but I'm holding out hope that whoever this might be is a big enough fan that he/she will do the book justice. Supposedly it's some director."

As rumors go, it's laughably vague -- but there's no denying that the major studios are all hungry for franchises, particularly of the sci-fi/fantasy variety, and Dune fits the bill neatly. With the right budget and "some director" behind the cameras, who knows what could happen?

Source: CHUD