With Peter Berg recently announcing he’d departed his post as director of Paramount’s “Dune” redo, the Burbankian shingle has been hot-and-heavy to find a replacement.

According to EW, they’ve found one.

Pierre Morel, last seen helping Liam Neeson drop a few pounds in the non-stop action/thriller “Taken”, will take the reins on this second feature film adaptation of Frank Herbet’s classic science-fiction novel.

The website adds that Paramount “is currently looking for a new writer to incorporate Morel’s vision of the project into the original draft by ‘Quantum of Solace’ scribe Josh Zetumer. Morel plans to make a very faithful adaptation of the 1965 book by Frank Herbert.”