I'm not sure what keeps possessing me to continuously leap on any DUNE casting news which crosses my desk, but here I am, again. It's hypnotic. As we know, Denis Villeneuve's (BLADE RUNNER 2049) upcoming adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi novel has been assembling quite the amazing cast, and Deadline has reported that David Dastmalchian is the latest to join up.
The actor, best known for his appearances in PRISONERS, ANT-MAN, BIRD BOX, and ANT-MAN AND THE WASP, made a short but memorable appearance in Villeneuve's BLADE RUNNER 2049 as well, and it seems that he'll be taking on a larger role for DUNE. Dastmalchian is set to play Piter De Vries, a twisted Mentat, a human trained to perform mental functions rivaling computers. De Vries is also one of the chief architects in the plot to destroy the Atreides family. Brad Dourif played the role in the David Lynch film. As is tradition, let's roll down the list of all the other actors set to take part in this epic. Ready? Here we go. Timothée Chalamet's (CALL ME BY YOUR NAME) will star as Paul Atreides, with Oscar Isaac (STAR WARS: EPISODE IX) playing Duke Leto Atreides, Paul's father, Rebecca Ferguson (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT) as Paul's mother, Lady Jessica, Stellan Skarsgard (THOR) as the villainous Baron Harkonnen, Dave Bautista (BLADE RUNNER 2049) as his sadistic nephew, Glossu "Beast" Rabban, Charlotte Rampling (RED SPARROW) as the Reverend Mother Mohiam, the emperor's truthsayer, Josh Brolin (AVENGERS: ENDGAME) as Gurney Halleck, a troubadour-swordsman, Javier Bardem (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES) as Stilgar, the leader of the Fremen, and Zendaya (SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME) as Chani, a Fremen who becomes a love interest to Paul Atreides. Jason Momoa (AQUAMAN) is also in talks to play Duncan Idaho, a swordmaster in the house of Atreides.
Denis Villeneuve has stated that he hopes for DUNE to span two films, and has also teased that he wants to make DUNE into the STAR WARS movie he never saw. "Most of the main ideas of Star Wars are coming from Dune so it’s going to be a challenge to [tackle] this," Villeneuve said. "The ambition is to do the Star Wars movie I never saw. In a way, it’s Star Wars for adults. We’ll see." DUNE is slated for a November 20, 2020 release.
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