In September, actor-director Peter Berg revealed to MTV that Josh Zetumer's script for Dune was "a massive epic" with "franchise potential" and that all Berg had to do next was "figure out how we can beat [the script] into something manageable without offending the purists." It certainly didn't sound like Berg was about to leave project, but a few weeks ago, he did. Apparently, his time will be occupied instead by the Hancock sequel and Battleship, Berg's upcoming adaptation of the popular board game.
Paramount is now hunting for a new director who can make the movie for a modest budget of a mere $175 million and two of their potential candidates are Neill Blomkamp (District 9) and Neil Marshall (The Descent). Zetumer's script is based on author Frank Herbert's popular sci-fi novel series, which has been adapted twice already — David Lynch's 1984 movie and a 2000 mini-series on the SciFi Channel.