Jason Momoa is the latest addition to the (increasingly) star-studded cast of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movie reboot. The new big screen adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal sci-fi novel is currently the hot tentpole in Hollywood and has the A-list ensemble to prove it. At the moment, the movie’s acting roster includes Timotheé Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, Oscar Isaac, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Charlotte Rampling, and Stellan Skarsgård, with Zendaya also heavily rumored for a key role. Best part is, there are still many characters left for Villeneuve to cast before he begins filming this spring.
Dune, for those who’re not familiar, is set in the future on the desert planet of Arrakis - the only known producer of an extremely valuable resource that’s colloquially referred to as spice. Legendary acquired the film rights to Herbert’s source material back in 2016 and set Villeneuve to direct shortly thereafter. As it turns out, a big name actor who only just had a mysterious meeting with the studio has also signed on (or, rather, is in the process of signing a deal) for an important role in the movie.
Variety is reporting that Momoa is in talks to join the Dune cast. Assuming the deal closes, the Aquaman actor will play Duncan Idaho, a master swordsman in the house of Atreides - the family that rules Arrakis when the story begins - and the right-hand man to the house’s patriarch, Duke Leto Atreides (Isaac), father of Paul (Chalamet), the protagonist of Herbert’s first Dune novel. The character was played by Richard Jordan in David Lynch’s 1984 Dune film and James Watson in the 2000 TV miniseries adaptation.
As referenced earlier, Momoa had a meeting with both Warner Bros. and Legendary this week, after which he posted a video online, teasing that fans have “no idea what’s coming”. Well, if nothing else, we now know what his trip over to Legendary was about. It’s not at all surprising that Villeneuve and the studio would want to work with the actor, either. After all, he’s coming off the billion dollar success of Aquaman, which firmly cemented his status as a fan-favorite and (along with Gal Gadot) one of the core stars of the DC cinematic universe. The role of Duncan Idaho is a great match for him too, seeing as Momoa has more than proven his ability to play a convincing (and charismatic) badass onscreen by now. He’s no stranger to portraying master sword fighters either, following his breakout role as Khal Drago on Game of Thrones back in the hit HBO series’ first season.
Still, even with the addition of Momoa, the Dune cast only stands to grow more impressive from here. Clearly, actors are excited to work with the director of Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 on his latest ambitious sci-fi project, especially one based on source material as influential and celebrated as Dune. This film could further end up marking the start of a new franchise for Momoa to go with Aquaman, in the event that it becomes a box office success. Idaho - without spoiling too much for those who haven’t read the Dune books - is an important supporting player and Momoa may wind up portraying him in several films, at the end of the day. Either way, he’s yet another great addition to the movie’s ensemble.
MORE: Everything You Need to Know About Denis Villeneuve’s Dune
Source: Variety
