Despite a prodigious output spanning many novels and short stories, the only Frank Herbert screen adaptation to make any sort of impact was Dune, first in 1984 with David Lynch’s film and then with the 2000 miniseries. Producer Dimitri Villand is looking to change that, grabbing the option to turn Herbert’s 1972 book Soul Catcher into a movie.
Soul Catcher** **finds a militant Native American student kidnapping the teenage son of a white US politician, threatening to sacrifice the lad as vengeance for the wrongs against his people. But as the captor and his charge flee from hunters across the Pacific Northwest, the man starts to bond with the teen, and has second thoughts about the slaying.
“The book is an extraordinary example of Frank Herbert’s brilliant writing, and it is something I’ve always wanted to turn into a film,” Villard says in a statement picked up by Deadline. “I remember the rights being unavailable when I first pursued the Soul Catcher project in the ’80s, but as my producing career developed I never forgot the powerful effect the story had on me. Now, with full support from the Frank Herbert estate, we have the opportunity to make a culturally impactful film that combines elements of suspense, high drama, mysticism and Native American history that will resonate for years to come and appeal to the millions of Frank Herbert fans worldwide.”
Villand is now looking to find a director who can make this work, but it’ll first have to survive the difficult development process.