Director Peter Berg will direct a new adaptation of the Frank Herbert classic, Dune. Dune spawned five sequels written by Herbert, and inspired a 1984 film adaptation by David Lynch, and in 2000 two mini-series made by the SCI FI Channel, computer games, a board game, and a series of prequels and sequels co-written by the author's son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

The original 1965 novel centers on a remote desert planet called Arakis, which is the sole provider of the universally loved spice fuel Melange. A power struggle ensues over who will control the spice.

Why this obsession with this particular book? Aren't there other sci-fi classic novels which haven't been made into movies yet instead? And besides, it wasn't as if the original 1980's Dune was such a big box office hit so as to warrant another shot at it . . .

(Peter Berg directed the recent The Kingdom.)