FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wed., June 25th, 2008, 12:00pm EST.

Zetumer to Adapt and Berg to Direct ‘DUNE’ for Paramount

Rubinstein, Misher and Aubrey to produce

New Amsterdam Entertainment announced today that Peter Berg is attached to direct and Josh Zetumer attached to pen a big screen adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel Dune for Paramount Pictures.

New Amsterdam’s CEO Richard P. Rubinstein, who exec produced the Sci-Fi 6 hour Frank Herbert’s “Dune” miniseries in 2000 is now producing the novel for the big screen alongside Kevin Misher via his PPC based shingle and Sarah Aubrey of Film 44, Berg’s production banner.  John Harrison and Mike Messina exec produce and Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, co-authors of the best selling Dune prequel and sequel novels will co-produce.  Brian Herbert is Frank Herbert’s son.

Frank Herbert’s novel is an epic, futuristic tale set on the remote desert planet Arrakis (a.k.a. "Dune"), the interstellar empire’s sole source of “spice”, the most valuable substance in the Universe.  Paramount execs see the project as a tentpole feature with major franchise potential.  There are 5 additional novels in Frank Herbert’s original Dune series plus the prequel novels which cover the early lives of the leading characters we meet in the original books.

Berg and Misher enjoy strong ties dating back to Misher’s executive days at Universal Pictures.  Misher also produced Berg’s second directorial outing, “The Rundown.”

When Rubinstein was asked why he was enthusiastic about Peter Berg directing he said, “I’ve become aware of how much Peter loves and respects the novel, I know he pays careful attention to character and I know he has experience shooting big action adventure movies in the desert.  All essential elements for a big screen adaptation of Dune.”

Brian Herbert, when asked how he felt about his father’s seminal novel being adapted for a third time, responded, “It’s a sign of how deeply Dad’s magnum opus has become embedded in generation after generation of readers going back to 1965, when Dune was first published.  David Lynch’s feature and John Harrison’s miniseries each brought diverse aspects of my father’s novel brilliantly to the screen—versions that often appealed to different sets of Dune fans.  This leaves more than enough room for Peter Berg and Josh Zetumer to come up with their take on Dune, consistent with our ever-increasing concern about the health of this planet.”  In fact, environmental awareness first catapulted the novel and its author to fame in the 1970s.  As Frank Herbert wrote in an appendix to Dune, “… the highest function of ecology is the understanding of consequences.”

Actor-turned helmer Berg most recently directed the Will Smith starrer “Hancock” which opened July 4^th weekend with a $107M gross.  Berg directing credits also include “The Kingdom” and “Friday Night Lights”.

Rubinstein produced theatrical box office hits include Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary” directed by Mary Lambert, George A. Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead” and the 2004 Zack Snyder directed “Dawn” remake.

Next picture to go before the cameras for New Amsterdam is expected to be “The Merciful Women”, in association with Historias S.A., in early 2009 with Lucia Puenzo (“XXY”) attached to direct her English language adaptation of Federico Andahazi’s best selling novel.