Recently screenwriter Josh Zetumer handed in a 175-page screenplay he created for "Dune" to director Peter Burg, who is responsible for "Hancock."
It is now being reported that Peter Berg and his Film 44 production company will no longer direct the film. It isn't clear as to whether Berg dropped out or not. There seems to be two directors at the top of the list who can potentially replace Berg as director as reported by Den Of Geek...Neil Marhsall most known for his horror hit "The Descent" and Neil Blomkamp, who is responsible for the dark horse of the summer; "District 9."
Dune has a production budget potentially of $175 million. Several sites are reporting that each director has a great chance of taking over the director's chair but Paramount wants the director to have at least a past box office smash on their hand. If that's the case, Blomkamp made "District 9" on a budget of $30, with some of his own funds along with the help of Peter Jackson. The film went on to earn over $115 million at the box office domestically, with a foreign take of nearly $70 million.
"The Descent" had a production budget of £3.5 million pounds but earned $26 million domestically and $31 million foreign.
Whispers668: If those two directors are at the choices Paramount must choose from and the matter comes down to who earned more at the box office and could handle a larger production budget, I believe Blomkamp may have the upper hand. I enjoyed both movies but "District 9" was phenomenal.