Following the box-office disappointment of BLADE RUNNER 2049, I was gratified that director Denis Villeneuve wasn't about to be drummed out of the world of big-budget sci-fi, and his next film is shaping up to be a most epic affair. Based upon the classic Frank Herbert novel, DUNE will follow Paul Atreides, a young man whose family assumes control of the desert planet of Arrakis, the only producer of the spice, a highly valuable and rare resource.
The cast of DUNE is already quite impressive, and it just keeps getting better. It has been reported that Oscar Isaac is in talks to join the cast of the upcoming film as Duke Leto Atreides, father to Paul. The role was previously portrayed by Jürgen Prochnow in David Lynch's 1984 film and by William Hurt in the 2000 Dune miniseries. The rest of the cast includes Timothée Chalamet (CALL ME BY YOUR NAME) as Paul Atreides, the young heir to the Atreides family who is betrayed and forced to escape into the desert wastelands. Together with the nomadic tribes, Paul discovers his mental abilities and leads an army to overthrow the empire. Rebecca Ferguson (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT) will play Paul's mother, Lady Jessica, with Stellan Skarsgard set to play the villainous Baron Harkonnen, the leader of a family who previously ruled the planet of Arrakis and harbour a deep resentment towards the Atreides family, and Dave Bautista (BLADE RUNNER 2049) playing Glossu "Beast" Rabban, the sadistic nephew of Baron Harkonnen. Charlotte Rampling (RED SPARROW) also recently joined the cast as the Reverend Mother Mohiam, "the emperor’s truthsayer, a person who can divine intentions, suss out lies and manipulate people's emotional states." I'm loving everything I'm hearing about this project so far. Fingers crossed!
The director's plans for DUNE certainly seem quite ambitious, as he's previously said that he hopes 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." We'll be seeing quite a lot from Oscar Isaac this year as he's part of the ensemble of J.C. Chandor's TRIPLE FRONTIER which will hit Netflix on March 15, 2019, will be voicing Gomez Addams in THE ADDAMS FAMILY animated film on October 18, 2019, and will be reprising his role of Poe Dameron for STAR WARS: EPISODE IX on December 20, 2019.
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