I was never fully on-board with the idea of Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) directing the latest adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune, but it's all a moot point now, since Berg and his production company have passed on the $175 million project for Paramount Pictures.

This means the search for a new director is on, and, according to Pajiba, Paramount has their eye on two genre filmmakers: Neil Marshall (The Descent, Doomsday, upcoming Centurion) and Neill Blomkamp (District 9). It's reported that producer Kevin Misher is a big advocate of Marshall, but the studio isn't 100% sure they can turn over a potentially huge franchise to someone who has yet to prove his blockbuster chops. Blomkamp was able to turn his own modestly budgeted original work of science-fiction into a critical and commercial success, but he has only one feature film under his belt so far.

Is Blomkamp the right director for Dune or is Marshall the man for the job?