A few weeks ago we started hearing rumors that a new version of Dune might be in the works. Now a few more details have popped up over AICN where they say a deal is very close to being done.

Their source claims it’s Paramount Pictures which is pushing for the film, and director Peter Berg is heavily involved in making it happen. If they get it, he’ll be directing, and possibly writing as well.

My extreme distaste for the David Lynch version of Dune from the 80s is no secret. I’m a big fan of the books, and he utterly botched it. The movie has its apologists, but unless you’re some sort of Lynch fanboy… you know it’s crap. So I’m all for a remake, if there’s a chance someone will finally do it right. Bad movies is what remaking should be for, not redoing perfectly good ones.

If it’s really Berg doing this it’s a promising notion. Frank Herbert’s books are notoriously difficult material to adapt, since a good portion of them consists almost entirely of inner monologuing which just won’t work on screen. But Berg is a talented guy. Before The Kingdom I might have questioned whether he can handle it, but now I’m totally sold on him… and not just because The Kingdom takes place in the desert.

With The Kingdom Berg has proven he can handle complex material with intense action elements, and that’s exactly what Dune is. For now this is just a rumor, I haven’t been able to reach anyone at Paramount capable of confirming it, but here’s hoping it turns out to be true.