Director Denis Villeneuve certainly seems to be approaching the peak of his career. Ever since he made his Hollywood debut with 2013 film Prisoners, the man has been on fire. He went on to direct the introspective Jake Gyllenhaal film Enemy before jumping straight into the crime drama Sicario. This year, Arrival surprised critics and audiences alike, bringing a new twist to the alien contact genre. 

Next year, Villeneuve’s next film, the long-awaited sequel to Blade Runner, will also hit theaters. If you had a chance to check out the latest teaser to Blade Runner 2049, you may have noticed an aesthetic that could be utilized in another epic science fiction story: Frank Herbert’s Dune (Granted it’s a very shallow, surface-level aesthetic).

Well, there were apparently some studio bigwigs who saw the same potential. 

According to Variety, Villeneuve s in early talks to direct the long in-development adaptation of the science fiction epic. This comes on the heels of news earlier this year around Thanksgiving, when Legendary closed a deal with the Frank Herbert Estate and snagged rights to both film and TV rights to the property.

The synopsis to the original Dune novel is as follows:

“Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family–and would bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.”

Following the release of Arrival, Villeneuve seems to be one of the best possible choices to bring a sci-fi novel of this scale to the big screen. He’s a director that’s not only proven his ability to adapt abstract concepts to the big screen, but to do so in an incredibly compelling way.

This news should come as no surprise to those who have been following the man’s career. He’s increasingly been open to expanding more into science fiction, and as recently as last September, he expressed his desire to adapt Dune.

“I had been wanting to do sci-fi for a very long time. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a movie that really impressed me as a teenager. And also Blade Runner. And Close Encounters of the Third Kind is also one of my favorites. I’m always looking for sci-fi material, and it’s difficult to find original and strong material that’s not just about weaponry. A longstanding dream of mine is to adapt Dune, but it’s a long process to get the rights, and I don’t think I will succeed. Also I would love to write something myself. I have two [sci-fi] projects right now that are in very stages. It’s too early to talk about them.”

READ: SICARIO AND BLADE RUNNER 2 DIRECTOR DENIS VILLENEUVE HAS HIS EYES SET ON REMAKING DUNE

What do you think? Do you want to see Villeneuve bring Dune to life, or would you prefer that he bring his own projects to the big screen?

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SOURCE: Variety