Zendaya in early talks to join the cast of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

After BLADE RUNNER 2049, I was thrilled to hear that Denis Villeneuve would be sticking around in the realm of big-budget sci-fi for at least a little longer. The director will soon be putting his touch on the upcoming adaptation of Frank Herbert's "Dune," and the impressive cast for the project continues to grow.

According to Collider, Zendaya (SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME) is in early talks to play the role of Chani, a Freman who becomes the love interest to Timothée Chalamet's (CALL ME BY YOUR NAME) Paul Atreides. Denis Villeneuve has previously said that his goal is to make DUNE into "two films, maybe more," and Collider says that Zendaya will likely have a larger role in the second film, assuming it gets made. In David Lynch's 1984 film, the role of Chani was played by Sean Young (BLADE RUNNER). DUNE will follow Paul Atreides, a young man whose family assumes control of the desert planet of Arrakis, the only producer of the spice, a highly valuable and rare resource. In addition to Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya (should her deal close), the rest of the cast includes Oscar Isaac (STAR WARS: EPISODE IX) as Duke Leto Atreides, Paul's father, Rebecca Ferguson (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT) as Paul's mother, Lady Jessica, with Stellan Skarsgard set to play the villainous Baron Harkonnen, the leader of a family who previously ruled the planet of Arrakis and harbour a deep resentment towards the Atreides family, and Dave Bautista (BLADE RUNNER 2049) playing Glossu "Beast" Rabban, the sadistic nephew of Baron Harkonnen. Charlotte Rampling (RED SPARROW) also recently joined the cast as the Reverend Mother Mohiam, "the emperor’s truthsayer, a person who can divine intentions, suss out lies and manipulate people's emotional states."

The director's plans for DUNE certainly seem quite ambitious, as he's previously said that he hopes to make DUNE into the STAR WARS movie he never saw. "Most of the main ideas of Star Wars are coming from Dune so it’s going to be a challenge to [tackle] this," Villeneuve said. "The ambition is to do the Star Wars movie I never saw. In a way, it’s Star Wars for adults. We’ll see." Zendaya will next be seen reprising her role of Michelle "MJ" Jones in SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME on July 5, 2019.