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James McAvoy stars as Leto Atreides II in Frank Herbert's Children of Dune
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By Richard Rubinstein
July 10, 2002
Dear SCIFI.COM and Frank Herbert's Dune fans,
In the forward to The Secrets of Frank Herbert's Dune, I thanked the legion of Frank Herbert fans worldwide for letting us know they were receptive to seeing a second adaptation of Dune, particularly one that promised to be more faithful to his extraordinary novel than was the previous film adaptation. As I write today to introduce you to the new, six-hour miniseries Frank Herbert's Children of Dune, I can thank those same fans again, and many new ones, for turning up in record numbers to watch the SCI FI Channel miniseries written and directed by John Harrison.
That said, I know we didn't please everyone 100 percent, and we respect that David Lynch's 1984 movie is still loved by many fans. With this next miniseries, however, we move beyond the realm of film vs. film comparison, because Children of Dune is based on Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, the next two novels in Herbert's Dune chronicles, neither of which has previously been adapted for the screen.
Although not all of the cast and crew involved in the first miniseries were able to schedule a return engagement, I hope you will find the new miniseries' mix of artists, both familiar and new, to be as faithful to the soul of the second and third novels of Herbert's original, six-book series, as the team behind the first miniseries was to Dune.
Beginning with the glue that holds a movie together, I'm pleased to confirm that John Harrison wrote the screen adaptation for Children of Dune. However, due to a schedule conflict, he was not available to direct. The role of director has been passed to a new, rising directing talent, Greg Yaitanes.
In front of the camera, in principal roles, Alec Newman returns as Paul Atreides; Julie Cox reprises her role as Irulan; Barbara Kodetova is back as Chani; Ian McNeice once again stars as the Baron Harkonnen; and P.H. Moriarty returns as Gurney Halleck.
We also welcome several veteran actors to the show, in three familiar roles: Edward Atterton assumes the role of Duncan Idaho; Steven Berkoff plays Atreides loyalist Stilgar; and Alice Krige steps into the role of Lady Jessica. The now grown-up Alia is played by Daniela Amavia. The new characters introduced in the novels Dune Messiah and Children of Dune have provided us the opportunity to introduce you to some very talented younger actors: Leto II is played by James McAvoy, and Ghanima is brought to life by Jessica Brooks. Rounding out the principal ensemble cast is Academy Award-winning actor Susan Sarandon in the role of Princess Wensicia.
Behind the camera, Ernest Farino is back to supervise the visual effects (he and his team received a visual-effects Emmy for their work on the first Frank Herbert's Dune miniseries, and we can't wait to show you the new miniseries' "worm capture" sequence). Prague-based Theodor Pistek and Jan Pistek are still dressing everyone with fabulous costumes (and hats), Matt Clark returns as first assistant director, and Harry Miller III returns as editor.
New to the behind-the-camera crew is Prague native Ondrej Nekvasil as production designer (he received a production design Emmy last year for Anne Frank), and continuing to uphold Poland's growing reputation for launching hot new cinematographers is Warsaw-based Arthur Reinhart, our new director of photography. There are many more returning cast and crew whose names you will see when we are able to publish a full list of credits.
Also behind the camera, I've returned as executive producer (the buck stops with me), while David Kappes returns as the producer and is responsible for running the day-to-day production in Prague. Supporting us are John Harrison, co-producer (another hat for John!); Charles Miller, production supervisor; and Mike Messina, associate producer.
With continuing appreciation for the opportunity to turn loose a lot of very talented individuals to do justice to Frank Herbert's work, I remain,
Sincerely,
Richard P. Rubinstein
Executive Producer
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Photos by Zdenek Vavra
Blixa Film Produktion GmbH & Co. KG and Touchstone Television Productions, LLC
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