Oscar winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, Skyfall) is in talks to join the A-list cast of Legendary’s Dune movie reboot, Variety has confirmed. The actor will play Stilgar, the leader of a tribe that helps Timothée Chalamet’s character.
Barden will be joining the previously announced Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name), Oscar Isaac (Star Wars: Episode IX), Zendaya (Spider-Man: Far From Home), Stellan Skarsgård (Thor), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible – Fallout), Charlotte Rampling (45 Years), and Dave Bautista (Avengers: Infinity War).
Set in the distant future, Dune follows Paul Atreides, whose family assumes control of the desert planet Arrakis. As the only producer of a highly valuable resource, jurisdiction over Arrakis is contested among competing noble families. After Atreides is betrayed, he leads a rebellion to restore his family’s reign.
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Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049) is directing and co-writing the script with Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts.
Dune was previously adapted by David Lynch in 1985, and it was also a series of TV miniseries starting in 2000 on SYFY. Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival director Denis Villeneuve will helm the Dune remake. Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts wrote the script, and it is being produced by Legendary Pictures. The new Dune may begin filming as soon as this year, although a release date has not yet been announced.
If Dune proves to have better luck at the box office than Lynch’s film, then there’s plenty of material for sequels. Herbert wrote five additional Dune novels before his death in 1986. Herbert’s son, Brian Herbert and novelist Kevin J. Anderson collaborated on a number of Dune books as well. Brian Herbert and Anderson are both involved with the Dune remake, as an executive producer and creative consultant, respectively.
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