Berg is a variable director, and it is clear he didn't get the project at all when he started talking about it as a 'muscular action movie'. Er, no, not even remotely.

DUNE is dark with elements of tragedy and an ending which initially looks happy but is revealed to be nihilistically apocalyptic in the follow-ups. Bloemkamp is a much better fit for that, based on DISTRICT 9.

Interesting that the writers and director of the 2000 mini-series are onboard as advisors and producers, since their vision of the project was decent, merely hamstrung by an atrociously low budget. They're huge fans of the books though (as no-one else in their right mind would try to turn GOD-EMPEROR OF DUNE into a TV series, as they attempted for a while before giving up ), which is positive.

My only concern now is that Kevin J. Hackmeister and Brian 'Paycheque' Herbert are also on board as consultants. I have a horrible feeling they're going to try and get nods to their prequel/sequel abominations in the movie.

* shudder *