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Frank Herbert’s ‘Soul Catcher’ Getting Feature Film Treatment

By Dustin Wicksell
Published on: 01:56 PST, Aug 16, 2014

Dune author Frank Herbert wrote many works in his lifetime, and now his 1972 novel Soul Catcher has been optioned for film, and may be on its way to the big screen.

According to Deadline, the film rights to Herbert’s novel have been acquired by producer Dimitri Villard, best known for his work on Flight of the Navigator and Once Bitten. Villard first tried to option the rights in the 1980s, before tabling his film producing career to run music company ArtistDirect until last year.

Soul Catcher revolves around a militant Native American student who kidnaps the 13-year-old son of a U.S. politician, planning to sacrifice him as vengeance for the wrongs committed against his tribe. “The book is an extraordinary example of Frank Herbert’s brilliant writing, and it is something I’ve always wanted to turn into a film,” Villard stated, according to Digital Spy. “I remember the rights being unavailable when I first pursued the Soul Catcher project in the ’80s, but as my producing career developed I never forgot the powerful effect the story had on me.”

Villard reportedly negotiated for a year with the Herbert estate before securing the rights to Soul Catcher. “Now,” he added, “with full support from the Frank Herbert estate, we have the opportunity to make a culturally impactful film that combines elements of suspense, high drama, mysticism and Native American history that will resonate for years to come and appeal to the millions of Frank Herbert fans worldwide.”

Frank Herbert’s Dune is one of the top selling science fiction novels of all time. A feature film adaptation was released in 1984, directed by David Lynch, while two miniseries based on the novel and its sequels were produced in the 2000s. As The Inquisitr previously noted, a documentary was released earlier this year chronicling the torturous development process involved in bringing Frank Herbert’s most popular work to the screen.

Villard’s next step is to attach a director to the project. Rene Haynes, who specializes in Native American and First Nations casting and has previously worked on films such as Dances with Wolves and Buffalo Soldiers, is reportedly involved with Soul Catcher.

Although he is best known for Dune and its sequels, Frank Herbert wrote many other works during his lifetime, before passing away in 1986. Soul Catcher would be the first Frank Herbert work outside of the Dune universe to get a feature film treatment.

[Image via Digital Spy]

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