The Hollywood Reporter says that Chase Palmer has been hired to tackle the "Dune" script for Paramount's planned adaptation. According to the report, Palmer will integrate Morel's ideas into the story, which should result in a movie experience fairly close to the source material.

“I’m like everyone else and went to see ‘Avatar’ with my kids,” said Morel, who has three young children. “We went twice to see it (due to the great 3-D visuals).

“I like the technology, but whatever technology we have, we need good stories to support it.”

Morel says: "It's so early in the project that we haven't had that conversation yet. I'd love it to be 3D, of course. It's the kind of movie that has the scope to be 3D. Will they do it in 3D? I'd push for that, but I don't know.

“Like many people, I was not fully satisfied with David Lynch’s movie in 1984,” Morel told us in a recent phone interview. “I do respect David, and I think his interpretation and vision was interesting, but not what we [fans] expected. And I thought I’d give it a chance, try to do this, make it faster and more modern. I think that now, in 2010, we have the technology to achieve much more than David could do twenty-five years ago. I think it will be cool to try something different.”