Source: Pajiba, CHUD

Peter Berg, director of The Rundown and last year's massively successful Hancock, has left Paramount's new big-screen adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune.

Screenwriter Josh Zetumer, currently hard at work on developing a fourth Bourne film, turned in a 175-page draft of the script earlier this year, and Berg reportedly met with Twilight star Robert Pattinson about taking a role in the movie. However, Berg is already working on Battleship and a tentative commitment to a Hancock sequel, so when he was offered the chance to direct even further projects at Universal, he chose to leave Dune. Herbert's book was previously adapted by David Lynch in 1984, and as a TV miniseries starring William Hurt in 2000 (which was successful enough to spawn a sequel, called "Children of Dune").

The studio is reportedly looking to film the movie for a smaller budget than Berg's version, and has reportedly put offers out to Neil Marshall (Doomsday) and Neill Blomkamp (District 9). The film was tentatively slated for 2010.