Morel jumps on Dune

Pierre Morel is taking advantage of the success he garnered last year with the sleeper hit Taken as he signs on to helm Dune. The 1984 film was directed by David Lynch, but it originally formed as a novel written by Frank Herbert. Now Paramount looks to take advantage of the remake craze that’s taken all of Hollywood by storm with getting this picture going. Here’s more on the new development from Variety.:

Pic had been developed by Peter Berg, who exited when he committed to Universal’s “Battleship,” based on the Hasbro naval combat board game.

Berg developed a “Dune” draft with Josh Zetumer, the script who separately has been scripting the fourth installment of “The Bourne Identity” for Universal. Paramount will work off Zetumer’s draft, but the studio will secure another writer shortly.

Herbert’s novel—about an intergalactic struggle to control the supply of a valuable spice found only on the remote desert planet Arrakis—remains the biggest selling sci fi novel and it’s still enormously popular. Morel, for instance, is a long time fan who brought his well-worn copy of the novel with him to meetings at Paramount, sources said.

Dune is currently in the deep midst of pre-production with an early 2011 release date.