Depending on how you feel about Peter Berg directing the upcoming adaptation of Dune, you'll either cheer or weep at this piece of news. A bit of somewhat solid sounding reporting has come out of Pajiba, telling us that Peter Berg has straight up dropped off the project, leaving Paramount on the hunt for a new helmer.

Berg has proven himself in the action world with the Middle Eastern actioner The Kingdom, but there's no real sci-fi anywhere on his resume that gets me at all excited about his involvement with Dune. However, there are two potential heirs to the Dune throne, and both of them are enough to make sci-fi nerd-dom squeal with delight. The two candidates are all kinds of Neil, with Neill Blomkamp and Neil Marshall both getting scripts sent out to them.

According to Pajiba's so-called source, The Hollywood Cog, Marshall (The Descent and the upcoming Centurion) is currently the frontrunner. Blomkamp has specifically said he's not interested in making high budget studio pictures, and with Paramount's projected budget already as high as $175 million, the District 9 director will probably give this one a pass.

There were also some whispers of a certain sparkly vampire joining the cast when Dune was still under Peter Berg's wing, but with the director shake up I think we'll be seeing that little rumor go away. America is already on Pattinson overload, but hey, he'd put some lady butts in the seats so you never know. More on this as it unfolds.