Far be it for me to start getting really hyped about a big budget Dune adaptation in 2019, but the upcoming film helmed by Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival wizard Denis Villeneuve is starting to look mighty, mighty tasty. According to The Hollywood Reporter, father of handsome sons Stellan Skarsgard has joined the increasingly stacked cast of the movie.
Skarsgard joins Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson and Dave Bautista in the first round of announced stars. Considering the exceptionally large cast of the sci-fi classic, we are probably heading for a few more announcements before this one enters production.
Skarsgard will be playing Baron Harkonnen, one of the villains of the piece. I will not bore you with the specifics of the role – because you’re either a Dune fan who knows already, or someone who is absolutely not interested in being regaled with paragraphs and paragraphs of sci-fi lore – but I will tell you that Harkonnen is some manner of grotesque space pedophile who rules a planet.
Dune has been adapted for the screen several times before. Once, memorably, by David Lynch in 1984 – a flawed but entirely unique movie which has gained a cult following (including among members of PEDESTRIAN‘s staff) – and a 200 SyFy miniseries. Villeneuve has very much proven his weird sci-fi credentials, so we could be onto a winner here.
The script is written by Villeneuve, Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts. There’s currently no word on when it’s actually entering full production, but I give you permission to wild out with anticipation anyway.
