Dave Bautista talks Dune, Army of the Dead, and defending James Gunn

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

By now, everyone knows the tale of James Gunn and his dismissal and subsequent rehiring as the director of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, but here's the Cliff Notes: After a series of offensive tweets were re-discovered on James Gunn's Twitter last summer, Disney made the choice to cut their ties with the director which left GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 without a captain. After searching for someone else to take the helm for several months, Disney wound up welcoming Gunn back earlier this year. During the period in which Gunn was removed from the project, one of his most vocal supporters was Dave Bautista, who plays Drax in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

While speaking with THR, Dave Bautista spoke about defending James Gunn and whether or not his agency ever tried to talk him out of it.

I’m with a different agency now, but I think my agents at the time were a little concerned. (Laughs.) They were never negative about it; they were never judgmental about it, but they were also worried that I would damage my career. But they knew how I felt about it, personally. I was with Gersh [Agency], and my last agent was named Brett Norensberg. We were actually really good friends; we were very close, so he understood that this was a personal issue with me. So he never tried to stand in the way or stop me from doing anything or taking a stance; he understood, but I think he was concerned. The other major part of my team is Jonathan Meisner. He’s my manager, but first and foremost, he’s my best friend; we’ve been friends since we were teenagers. As he’s always been with me throughout my life and career. He’s been 100 percent supportive.

"Basically, I just wanted my friend rehired, and I never really thought about anything else," Bautista continued. "I wasn’t so concerned about my career at that point. I figured if my career was over, I could always fall back on professional wrestling. That’s one big perk about being a professional wrestler, I can go back to that because nobody can ever take that skill away from me. I will always have it. Hopefully the WWE would always open the door to me, but if they didn’t I could wrestle elsewhere if I was starving and needed to make a living." Thankfully, Bautista's career fared just fine and he's got several high-profile projects on the horizon, including Denis Villeneuve's DUNE and Zack Snyder's ARMY OF THE DEAD.

In regards to ARMY OF THE DEAD, Bautista said that he's been talking with Zack Snyder for years and that they've been trying to develop a project together all that time. "I met Zack years ago and always loved him. I had an instant connection with this guy. He’s my type of director. He’s kind of a man’s man; he likes to train a lot and is all tatted up. We just kind of understand each other," Bautista said. "When he got a hold of Army of the Dead, he actually wrote a smaller part for me in there. As he was gearing up for casting, he started thinking about who his lead would be, and he told me this personally, “One day, it just clicked: God, Dave is not that part; Dave is my lead.” So, he called me and asked me if I would do it; I said, “Hell yeah. I’d be happy to do it.” I really just want to work with Zack." The zombie thriller will be set amid a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, during which a man assembles a group of mercenaries to take the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantined zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted. The actor is also set to join the production of Denis Villeneuve's DUNE at the end of the month as Glossu "Beast" Rabban, the sadistic nephew of Baron Harkonnen. This will mark Dave Bautista's second collaboration with Villeneuve after playing the role of Sapper Morton in BLADE RUNNER 2049.

His take on Dune is very true to the books. If you know his style of filmmaking, it’s perfect. He was tailor-made to do this. I hope he won’t mind that I’m saying this, but when I talked to him about Dune, he said that he really wanted to pay honor to the books. He was such a fan of the books growing up. So people who are fans of the book are just going to love this film. They’re actually going to see all these characters brought to life. He’s absolutely, without a doubt, the best person to do it.

After his experiences on BLADE RUNNER 2049, Dave Bautista isn't about to enter production on DUNE married to any idea he has about Beast  Rabban. "The reason I haven’t done this is because when I auditioned for Sapper, I did it one way," Bautista said. "I thought it was great, because Denis loved it. He said, “You got the job; I love this.” When I got to set and started performing Sapper the way I auditioned for it, he said, “No, no, this is who Sapper is,” and he gave me a completely different outlook on who Sapper was. So, I don’t want to wrap my head around my idea of who the Beast is before I get there. I just know Denis is going to tell me that he is someone else. (Laughs.) So, I will follow his direction." DUNE is slated for a November 20, 2020 release, but our next dose of Bautista arrives with STUBER on July 12, 2019.