Actress Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation, Mission: Impossible — Fallout) is currently in talks to play Lady Jessica in director Denis Villeneuve’s Dune adaptation, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Should she land the role, Ferguson — who also played Elizabeth Woodville in Starz’s The White Queen — would be starring opposite Timothée Chalamet who recently signed on to play the son of Lady Jessica, Paul Atreides.
Lady Jessica is the Bene Gesserit paramour of Duke Leto Atreides, and Paul is their eldest child. After she and her son flee into the desert and take refuge with the Fremen, Jessica gives birth to her second child, Alia.
In 2016, Legendary Entertainment purchased the film and television rights to author Frank Herbert’s science fiction series of novels that began with Dune, with plans for the first film to focus on the first half of the book. Villeneuve teamed up with Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts to write the script.
I’m pleased to report that Kevin and I have seen the latest draft of the DUNE screenplay, and it is so good that we made very few comments to Legendary about it. ....
— Brian Herbert (@DuneAuthor) August 2, 2018
Frank Herbert’s son, Brian Herbert will act as an executive producer, which is a smart play by Legendary. Herbert continued his father’s work, after his death in 1986, and has written over 20 novels set in the Dune universe, so he knows the material better than anyone. Kevin J. Anderson, who has collaborated with Brian Herbert on several of those books, will serve as a creative consultant.
The story of Dune takes place far into the future when mankind has mastered the art of space travel using the benefits of a substance known as spice, which grants the person consuming it a longer lifespan, heightened mental and physical abilities, and in some, prescience. The desert planet Arrakis (also known as Dune) is the only known source of spice in the entire galaxy, and as such, whoever controls the flow of the invaluable substance, holds all the power.
Production on Dune will begin in 2019.
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