Director Denis Villeneuve has assembled a stellar cast for his new Dune movie. How well do the cast members fit their characters?
Have you heard the news? Legendary Pictures is adapting Frank Herbert’s Dune into a movie written and directed by visionary director Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Blade Runner 2049). The first film, which would cover the first half of the first novel, is set to hit theaters in December of 2020. If things go well, we could be looking at a long-running series.
One thing the first film has going for it is its high-powered cast. Villeneuve has put together an all-star roster of actors, from Timothée Chalamet to Jason Momoa to Zendaya. All of them bring something unique to the party, and together they could make Dune something well worth watching.
But how well do they fit their roles? With David Lynch’s divisive 1984 adaptation as a reference point, we go actor by actor to find that out.
First, some quick background on the world of Dune: The story takes place thousands of years in mankind’s future, after it has colonized the stars. The universe is ruled by noble Houses from varying planets, all answering to a galactic Emperor. Space exploration is made possible in large part due to a highly addictive substance called Melange, or Spice. Spice can prolong a person’s life, give them heightened senses, and even prescient powers. The only problem is, once a person gets addicted to Spice, it’s impossible to stop taking it without dying.
Spice can only be found on the planet of Arrakis, better known as Dune, a desert planet populated by the hardy Fremen people and the gigantic sandworms. The House that rules the planet instantly becomes very powerful and ridiculously rich.
And that’s where the Story of Dune starts. Let’s try and see where these actors could take it.