Directors come and go, but the spice must flow, and Paramount has lined up Taken's Pierre Morel to handle the reigns of its new Dune adaptation.
You'll recall that Peter Berg had been busily developing a fresh take on Frank Herbert's hefty 1965 sci-fi classic novel, but was tempted away by Universal, which offered him a shot at the Afghan war drama Lone Survivor he's been wanting to make for years provided he first makes Battleship for the studio.
Berg's departure left Dune without a leader, but Morel will now step in take over and Paramount will start the search for a fresh writer to retool Josh Zetumer's script for the new director.
Dune has always been a tough nut to crack - Alejandro Jodorowsky was lining up to direct a version back in 1974 and we all know how David Lynch's 1984 effort turned out.
Morel - whose action thriller From Paris With Love is about to arrive, and has just released a new trailer - will need to manage the expectations of Herbert's many fans and find some way to get the complicated, sprawling Dune-iverse on to the screen. Preferably without Sting this time, thanks.