Pierre Morel to direct Dune

After being deserted by Peter Berg, who left for the uncharted waters of Battleship , we wondered if anybody would brave enough to take on the sci-fi epic, and the devoted fanboy army that come as part of the deal.

Well, it appears Taken 's Pierre Morel is next in line for the internet backlash.

Having had success in making a movie mountain out of a monetary molehill with Taken , Morel is undoubtedly skilled at balancing the budget. The only question is whether or not the Gallic director can handle the dosh of Dune, not to mention the demands of an A-list cast.

Let's just say while coolly anticipating the arrival of Morel's new action/thriller From Paris with Love , many will be watching with sharp eyes and baited breath.

Whether Paramount are actually going to stick closely to the original concepts and tones of the classic novel is up in the air, but we reckon they won't be able to shy away from a more modern thematic twist (oil crisis, terrorism - anyone?).

After all, when you are dealing with a classic, never mind one as notoriously thorny as Dune, there will be compromise - but hopefully not on the part of those big sandworm things, which at least everyone can agree are awesome.

Whatever the outcome, you can take bets on hearing from Herbert-philes who will swear they got it all wrong.

Are you Taken with the notion of Pierre Morel? Or prepared to duel over the details of Dune ?