In 1984 director David Lynch mde a movie based on Frank Herbert’s Hugo and Nebula winning novel Dune. In 2000 the SyFy Channel made a mini-series, written and directed by John Harrison. Now the movie is being remade by Canadian director Denis Villeneuve, based on a script by Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts.
The new adaptation of Dune has a promising cast Swedish actor
Stellan Skarsgård (Dr. Erik Selvig in the MCU, Bootstrap Bill Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and the Grand Duke in Disney’s 2015 live-action Cinderella) will play the villainous Baron Harkonnen.
The actress playing Lady jessica, the duke’s concubine and Paul Atreides’s mother is Rebecca Ferguson, who like Skarsgard, was also born in Sweden. She plays Morgana in the soon to be released The Kid Who Would Be King, Jenny Lind in The Greatest Showman, and Ilsa Faust in two of the Mission Impossible movies. One can only hope that Roth and Spaihts leave in Lady Jessica’s classic line, “History will call us wives.”
The starring role of young Paul Atreides will go to Timothee Chalamet, who plays Laurie in the 2019 version of Little Women and Tom in the 2014’s Interstellar. “Beast” Rabban will be portrayed by fan favorite Dave Bautista (Drax the Destroyer in two Guardians of the Galaxy movies). The Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Mohiam is played by Charlotte Rampling (Jocelyn Knight in Broadchurch and Dr. Evelyn Vogel in Dexter).
Casting for other roles has not been announced yet. The movie is currently in pre-production.
Director Denis Villeneuve previously directed Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival. Eric Roth wrote The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and was executive producer of House of Cards. Jon Spaits co-wrote both Doctor Strange and Prometheus.
Brian Herbert, son of the late Frank Herbert, had to have been on board with all this, or there’d be no film. Are you looking forward to the new Dune movie or crossing your fingers that Hollywood doesn’t ruin Herbert’s award-winning novel of politics, passion, and planetary ecology?
-30-
Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress #30”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions, Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.
