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🚀 Dune 3, Doctor Who, Star Trek and Their Complex Interplay with Books

A movie adaptation often makes tweaks to its source material, but what happens when books, television, and film begin a complicated dance of intertwined lore?

Author

Michael Ahr
February 25, 2025

Tuesday Edition February 25, 2025

We already know that books have a huge influence on the popular culture that shows up on screen, but these days it goes well beyond run-of-the-mill adaptations. The relationship works both ways, and the synergy has become much more complicated, as we’ve discovered in some of our coverage this week.

Casting rumors for the next Dune movie, for example, point to a problematic relationship in the Frank Herbert novels and will likely necessitate a narrative tweak, and those sorts of changes are fairly normal. But what about when a writer of Doctor Who novelizations leverages their work into a gig in the TV writers room? And what do you do when Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry breaks with his own canon in a book released in conjunction with the TV show’s first big screen appearance, Star Trek: The Motion Picture?

We even wrote recently about Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf, a book inspired by a TV show, Netflix’s Arcane, which in turn is based on a video game called League of Legends. The book doesn’t even have to come first anymore! It’s an intricate dance of influence that fans can enjoy in whatever form they wish, for better or worse.

— Michael Ahr, Newsletter Editor

MOVIES
Dune 3 Cast Rumor Just Set Up a Controversial Dune Messiah Storyline

Exciting news for Dune fans: word on the street is that Jason Momoa might reprise his role as the charismatic warrior Duncan Idaho in the upcoming third installment of the big screen adaptation, Dune: Messiah. Despite his character's dramatic exit in the first film, those familiar with Frank Herbert's novels might not be as surprised, but they may be a bit dismayed.

You’ll have to check out the full article to see exactly why, but suffice it to say Duncan’s relationship with Paul is not quite the same as what we’ve seen thus far and the one with Paul’s sister is even more complicated. Despite the problematic narrative, Dune fans — not to mention those who have enjoyed Momoa’s performance — are eager to see how the story will unfold.

TV
How Doctor Who Books Formed a Path to Writing the TV Show

Ever wondered how some of your favorite Doctor Who episodes came to be? It turns out, many of the show's writers first dipped their toes into the Whoniverse through official tie-in novels. Back in the '90s, during the show's hiatus, original novels kept the Doctor's adventures alive, and even budding young writers like Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat got their start penning these stories.

Fast forward to 2025, and history seems to be repeating itself. Novelist Juno Dawson, who previously wrote Doctor Who fiction, has been announced as one of the new writers for the upcoming TV season, suggesting that dabbling in the Doctor Who literary universe can be a stepping stone to writing for the show itself. With new novels by Emily Cook and Hannah Fergesen on the horizon, could they be the next to make the leap from page to screen?

BOOKS
Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture Novel Shows a Very Different Vision of the Trek Universe

It turns out that what Star Trek looks like straight from the mind of its creator, Gene Roddenberry, might not be what we see on screen. His novel called Star Trek The Motion Picture – A novel by Gene Roddenberry is actually a raw, unfiltered dive into the Trek universe, complete with unexpected twists and eyebrow-raising moments that at times breaks with the very detailed Star Trek canon that has developed in the years after his death.

But that's just scratching the surface. From Kirk addressing rumors about his relationship with Spock to timeline tweaks that might irk some hardcore purists, the novel delves into areas the films and series only hint at, presenting a version of Starfleet and its spacefaring officers that's both familiar and startlingly new. Sometimes the creator’s vision differs greatly from the way later writers interpret it!

EDITOR’S PICKS

The first full trailer for Andor season 2 is here and there's a lot to unpack - familiar faces, new TIE fighters, and a dancing Mon Mothma.

Eon may not have made high art out of James Bond, but at least it wasn't a content mine.

The LEGO Group is expanding its Batman reach to the 1995 film's zany Batmobile design.

Thor will die in an upcoming comic, but writer Al Ewing has more than shock value in mind for Immortal Thor.

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