Forrest Gump screenwriter joins Denis Villeneuve's Dune reboot
It’s just like Paul Atreides’ mom once told him, “life is like a box of precious spices. You you never what you’re gonna get. And one day, you might just become the Kwisatz Haderach.”
EW has confirmed that Forrest Gump screenwriter Eric Roth has joined director Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming reboot of Dune, though it’s unclear whether that exact quote will appear in the film. Roth won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work on Forrest Gump, and earned nominations for The Insider, Munich, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Villeneuve is no lightweight, either. He was just nominated for Best Director for Arrival — which, along with Villeneuve’s upcoming Blade Runner 2049, prove that he is accumulating extensive experience with science-fiction films.
Dune is one of the most popular sci-fi sagas of the last few decades. Originally written in 1969 by Frank Herbert as the first of a six-book series (with additional sequels written after Herbert’s death by his son Brian) follows Paul Atreides, the last scion of a noble family who becomes a messianic figure for the “Fremen” of the desert planet Arrakis and leads them in rebellion against the vile Baron Harkonnen. The book was originally adapted into a movie by David Lynch in 1984 (after several botched attempts, most famously by Alejandro Jodorowsky), but as with Blade Runner 2049, Villeneuve is clearly unafraid to relaunch sci-fi franchises.
Variety first reported the news of Roth’s involvement.
