Oscar Isaac is in talks to join the cast of the upcoming
"Dune" adaptation from
"Arrival" and
"Blade Runner 2049" filmmaker
Denis Villeneuve. The film's script is being written by Villeneuve,
Eric Roth (
"A Star Is Born") and
Jon Spaihts (
"Prometheus").
"Dune" is a science fiction saga by
Frank Herbert that consists of six novels. The first book is the best-selling sci-fi novel of all time and was previously adapted by
David Lynch in a 1984 film starring
Kyle MacLachlan that ended up being a box-office flop and was panned by critics. Lynch withdrew his name from the film due to excessive studio interference.
Another 2000 three-part television adaptation of the original novel was slightly more popular and it was followed by another miniseries in 2003 that was based on the second and third books in the series. Surrealist director
Alejandro Jodorowsky also attempted to bring the story to the big screen in the 1970s, and that version was supposed to star
Orson Welles and
Salvador Dali. The unsuccessful effort was chronicled in the 2014 documentary
"Jodorowsky's Dune".
The story follows young Paul Atreides (Chalamet) and his family as they battle for control of the harsh desert planet Arrakis, also known as Dune, which is at the center of galactic intrigue because it's the only source of the "spice melange", a highly valuable drug that confers psychic abilities, can extend a human life, and is vital for space travel. Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV grants the Atreides family control of the spice harvesting operations, but a betrayal orchestrated by a powerful rival family, the House Harkonnen, forces Paul to become the leader of a rebellion to restore his family's reign.
Isaac has been cast as Duke Leto Atreides, Paul's father.
Rebecca Ferguson has been cast as Paul's mother, Lady Jessica, and
Stellan Skarsgard was recently cast as Baron Harkonnen.
Dave Bautista, who also appeared in Villeneuve's
"Blade Runner 2049", is also on board for an unknown role.
The novel explores themes of politics, religion, and man's relationship with nature, and it will interesting to see how Herbert's cerebral writing can be convincingly adapted into a box-office hit. Villeneuve's
"Blade Runner 2049", for example, was a similar cerebral blockbuster, and it wasn't a huge hit.
Legendary acquired film and TV rights to Herbert's famous novel in 2016.
