During the London red carpet premire of Snow White And The Huntsman director Rupert Sanders was asked by HeyUGuys about what was he next project. He was coy about a Huntsman sequel but revealed an untitled science fiction project that was being influenced by
The Battle of Algiers. I just realized what Rupert could have been referring to with his ambiguous statement. It could end up being the long in-development reboot of
Dune.
When Ridley Scott was attached to direct Dune he intended to split the book into two movies. He worked on three drafts of the script, using
The Battle of Algiers as a point of reference, before moving on to direct Blade Runner instead. This little tidbit of information is from Ridley Scott: The Making of his Movies by Paul M. Sammon. The original Dune was a massive flop but would eventually become a cult favorite similar to Ridley's Blade Runner. It's possible this could have been a slight hint to sci-fi fans from Rupert.
Directors Peter Berg (Hancock, Battleship) and Pierre Morel (Taken, From Paris With Love) been attached to a new Dune film before the project went into limbo. It's quite possible that Rupert is at least in talks with Paramount and the Dune rights holder to put together a new package for the reboot. Sanders has a visual presence that dwarves previous attached directors. Along with his fantasy background from making Huntsman he also has a sci-fi background helming live-action commercials for Halo. Sanders had been inline to take over the Halo film from Neill Blomkamp before that project went into limbo too. I think if given a solid script Sanders could help develop one hell of a new Dune franchise. He's still in talks with Universal for the Huntsman sequel which isn't a done deal (Sanders only signed up for one film).
SOURCE: HeyUGuys
