Casting big name stars in your movie can be a tricky business. Do they actually fit the roles, or are they just there for the cache? Somehow, Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic Dune managed to cast nearly 10 celebrity actors in key roles — including Timothée Chalamet as lead character Paul Atreides, Oscar Isaac as his dad Duke Leto, and Zendaya as love interest Chani — and all of them fit pretty much perfectly.
That tradition will continue in Dune: Part II, which will adapt the second half of Frank Herbert’s iconic sci-fi book. We heard a while back that Marvel star Florence Pugh would be playing Princess Irulan, a crucial character who sticks around for the next couple books. Now that a production sheet bearing her name has appeared on Twitter, the evidence is piling up.
Again, this is great casting, because Pugh is both a rising star who will bring in an audience and a very good actor fully capable of pulling off Irulan’s royal bearing. Really, it’s impressive enough when a movie casts one celebrity effectively. For Dune to do it over and over again borders on miraculous.
Other important roles yet to be cast in Dune: Part II
There are other important parts yet to be cast, most notably Baron Harkonnen’s vicious nephew Feyd-Rautha (the rumors for that one are already flying) and Emperor Shaddam IV. And if Villeneuve carries through with his plans to adapt even more of the series, there will be yet more chances to perfectly cast big-name stars in offbeat sci-fi roles. I’m all for it.
Dune: Part II is due out in theaters on October 20, 2023.
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h/t Digital Spy