Dune heading back to the big screen with Legendary Pictures

Classic sci-fi novel Dune could soon be heading back on to the big screen with news today that Legendary Entertainment have moved to secure the film and television rights to the book. The much-loved book, written by Frank Herbert, was first published in 1965 (via The Playlist).

Many different visionaries have tried their hand at bringing the vast story to the screen but so far no-one has really captured it on film. The most famous version is the 1984 film which was produced by Dino de Laurentiis and directed by David Lynch and had one of Hollywood’s most troubled productions as well as being a huge box-office flop.

Auteur Alejandro Jodorowsky also tried to bring his own version to audiences in the 1970’s but budgetary concerns amongst other things saw the project die (be sure to check out documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune to hear the full story).

In recent years, such directors as Pierre Morel (The Gunman) and Peter Berg (Patriots Day) took a stab at it but so far all remakes have been unsuccessful. Legendary is perhaps the best home for the project given its big-budget success of such large sci-fi actioners like Godzilla, Pacific Rim and the upcoming Kong: Skull Island, and while they have not yet announced any plans, this could be the sort of film that could be made into its own trilogy or franchise.