Principal photography wrapped recently on the SCI FI original mini-series Frank Herbert's Dune. Based on one of the most popular futuristic stories ever published, this epic adventure will be presented as a three-part, six-hour mini-series slated for December 2000 exclusively on SCI FI.
The film features a prestigious ensemble cast, including Alec Newman, Matt Keeslar, Saskia Reeves, Ian McNeice, PH Moriarty, Julie Cox, Italian screen icon Giancarlo Giannini as the Emperor and Academy Award-winning actor William Hurt as Duke Leto. The film is written and directed by John Harrison (Tales from the Darkside: The Movie).
Frank Herbert's Dune is executive produced by Richard P. Rubinstein and Mitchell Galin, who previously collaborated on Stephen King's The Stand and Pet Sematary. The producer is David Kappes. The acclaimed production team includes three-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (Last Emperor, Reds, Apocalypse Now); Oscar-winning costume designer Theodor Pistek (Amadeus); Cesar-winning production designer Miljen Kreka Klijakovic (Indochine); and Emmy-nominated visual effects supervisor Ernest Farino (From the Earth to the Moon).
The unique digital challenges of visualizing this epic grandeur in post-production are being met under the direction of Emmy-nominated Farino. Utilizing the latest advances of software and technology, Farino is overseeing multiple visual effects' companies, including Area 51, Netter Digital Effects, AI Effects, E=MC2 Digital, Title
House Digital, and Proxima. The credits of these companies range from
Titanic and The X-Files to Babylon 5, Space: Above
& Beyond and From the Earth to the Moon.
Since its debut in 1965, Frank Herbert's Dune has sold over 12 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling science fiction adventure of all time. Now, based on John Harrison's new and faithful adaptation of the novel, viewers will finally have a chance to experience the legend as it was meant to be told - in all of its intricate detail, unfolding over six hours. The production was shot at exotic overseas locations, including one of the largest soundstages in Europe, Barrandov Studios in Prague.
Frank Herbert's Dune tells the adventures of young Paul "Muad'Dib," (Alec Newman), heir to the noble Duke Leto Atreides (William Hurt). House Atreides is among several feuding Great Royal Houses that comprise a tenuously balanced trilogy of power with the Emperor and the Navigators of Spacing Guild.
That balance appears in favor of House Atreides when Leto is ordered by the Emperor (Giancarlo Giannini) to oversee the production of "Spice," a life-sustaining substance that is the most precious commodity in the universe. It is believed among the Houses that he who controls the Spice controls the Empire. But when Leto is betrayed by one of his own, a devastating conflict ensues. Paul and his mother, Jessica (Saskia Reeves), a magical "Bene Gesserit" witch with powers of mind control, must escape into the desert. Under his mother's tutelage, Paul hones his own considerable Bene Gesserit gifts, and begins to see into the future and realize his far-reaching ability to shape it. Frank Herbert's Dune is a New Amsterdam Entertainment, Inc. production, in association with Victor Television Productions, Inc. and BetaFilm, GmbH.
New Amsterdam Entertainment, Inc., is a New York City based developer and producer of theatrical feature films and TV programming. In addition to the current production of Frank Herbert's Dune, New Amsterdam is developing Keller, a theatrical feature based on Lawrence Block's best seller Hit Man, with a screenplay by Maria Aitken and Patrick McGrath. Jeff Bridges is attached to star and will executive produce with Neil Koenigsberg.
SCI FI Channel, owned and operated by USA Cable, a division of USA Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: USAI), transmits fantastic images to 62 million human homes. Launched in 1992, SCI FI features a continuous stream of cinematic hits, new and original series, and special events, as well as classic sci-fi, fantasy, and horror programming. Check out scifi.COM, the SCI FI Channel's award-winning Web site, at www.scifi.com.
