Coming 'Dune'

In his version, Harrison covers much of the same ground as Lynch's film -- but makes some changes, too: The hero, Paul Atreides (Scottish newcomer Alec Newman), grows much more gradually from pampered princeling to mature, visionary warrior. And the story gives greater weight to the three principal female characters: Jessica, Paul's powerful mother (British stage star Saskia Reeves); Chani, his sand dwelling lover (Czech theater actress Barbora Kodetova); and Irulan, a princess turned diplomat from a rival noble house (British ingenue Julie Cox). In the book, for example, Irulan stayed passively in the background, but Harrison refashions her as a shrewd, galaxy trotting Imperial advisor. ''To show the importance of the trinity of women who surround Paul, it was necessary to give [their] characters more screen time,'' Harrison says.

Gone, too, are the Lynchian monologues and extensive shots of those big sandcrawlers. ''It would've just stalled the drama to spend too much time on them,'' Harrison says. And though he thinks his more literal adaptation will play well with the saga's fanatics, he knows Lynch lovers may favor that auteur's unique (some would say freaky) style. Bonnie Hammer, president of the Sci Fi Channel, agrees: ''We know from a few reviews that some people will continue to think [Lynch's] is better, but hopefully they'll still see ours.''

Hammer is betting that the network's extensive promotional campaign, the book's huge fan base, the appeal of epic storytelling, and three strong women characters (which could help lure female viewers to the male dominated channel) will translate into big ratings. And at least one industry analyst thinks she may be right. ''Picking something that appeals [to viewers] across the board was smart,'' says Bill Cella, VP of broadcasting at media buying firm Universal McCann. ''I'd say the key for them is getting people to watch that first night -- because people don't just pop into a miniseries on the second or final night. If viewers commit the first night, they'll be good to go.''

No matter how it turns out, Sci Fi is so confident in ''Dune'' that Hammer already has a deal with Harrison and company to create more minis from the book's sequels. Harrison is adapting the second and third books in the series, ''Dune Messiah'' and ''Children of Dune,'' into another six hour production, which he hopes to film for 2002. Not that Sci Fi is going to go all Herbert all the time. The channel already has a deal with Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks to produce ''Taken,'' a 10 day series about alien abductions that is also being written for a 2002 airdate. Let's hope there are no embarrassingly phallic looking sand worms in that one either.