While David Lynch's 1984 attempt to film Frank Herbert's sprawling space-and-spice opera Dune is considered an interesting flop and others didn't even reach that stage, the daunting challenge is not fazing Arrival's Denis Villeneuve, who is developing a new cinematic version. He now has Call Me By Your Name's Timothée Chalamet in talks to star.
With Eric Roth on adaptation duty, the film – and Villeneuve has said there's every chance the story will require two of them at first – will again bring to the screen Herbert's 1965 original novel. The world of Dune is a far-future, far-flung epic where humanity has journeyed between the stars, and the various worlds are ruled by competing feudal families. One such planet is the harsh desert sphere Arrakis, where the drug known as Melange (aka "Spice") is harvested. It offers heightened consciousness and an extended lifespan, but at the cost of crippling addiction and fatal withdrawal. It's also what helps navigate the interstellar byways. So naturally, competition between the families for control is fierce, and the Atreides are rocked by conspiracy and a plot by the opposing Harkonens. Paul himself, meanwhile, has a destiny...
Chalamet feels like a good choice to bring the character to life (Kyle MacLachlan was Lynch's Paul) and Villeneuve has proved he can conjure interesting, intelligent worlds. With Legendary providing the backing, it's now in active development, though helpfully has yet to be anchored to a release date. As for Chalamet, he'll next be seen in new drama Beautiful Boy, out on 18 January next year in the UK.
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