Following on from casting Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha, and Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, Denis Villeneuve has added another high-profile name to the expanding cast of Dune: Part Two. Veteran actor Christopher Walken is joining as the impressively titled Emperor of the Known Universe, according to Deadline.
Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Dave Bautista and Josh Brolin are all expected to return for Part Two, which is due to begin filming in Autumn 2022. A release date of October 20, 2023 has already been set. The first Dune had an impressive theatrical box office haul, despite being available on HBO Max from the day of release. It was nominated for ten Oscars, including Best Picture, and won six.
Christopher Walken has 140 film and TV credits to his name, including The Deer Hunter, The Dead Zone, King of New York, True Romance, Pulp Fiction, Sleepy Hollow, Catch Me If You Can, Hairspray, and lest we forget – Wild Mountain Thyme. He has recently been wowing TV audiences in Apple TV’s Severance.
Shaddam IV of House Corrino is the Padishah Emperor and the father of Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh). He occupies the Golden Lion Throne and was depicted in David Lynch’s 1984 film as over 200 years old, having had his life extended by spice. The Emperor is the one pulling the strings behind the Atreides-Harkonnen rivalry.
In March 2022, Villeneuve said that the screenplay for Part Two was “mostly finished” and that pre-production preparation was already well underway. Villeneuve has a long history with Dune, including making some storyboards for a film version with a friend when they were fourteen years old. A spin-off TV series is also planned for HBO Max.
We will you bring you more updates on Dune: Part Two as soon as we have them. In the meantime, find out the origin story of the weird giant spider from the first movie.