Denis Villeneuve's Dune has added another cast member, this time in Ant-Man and the Wasp's David Dastmalchian. The remake of David Lynch's 1980s take based on Frank Herbert's sci-fi novel has been in development for the last two years, with Villeneuve choosing this as his followup to Blade Runner 2049. While that sequel/reboot did not perform well at the box office, it received critical acclaim and an A-list cast - which Villeneuve is replicating with Dune.
The casting process is in the final stages now, but it began last year when Timotheé Chalamet was cast in the lead role of Paul Atreides. The rising star is giving his own take on the role that Kyle MacLachlan previously brought to life. Rebecca Ferguson and Oscar Issac are helping fill out the supporting cast around Chalamet, as Paul's mother and father respectively. They are just a few high profile names to lend their talents to Dune, with the addition of Jason Momoa appearing to be the last major puzzle piece.
Related: Everything You Need to Know About Denis Villeneuve's Dune
According to Deadline, David Dastmalchian is the latest cast member to join Dune. Dastmalchian will play the role of Piter De Vries, who is a Mentat - someone who is trained to have mental abilities that rival computers. Mentat's are forbidden throughout the galaxy, but Vries serves Baron Vladimir Harkonnen - who's played by Stellan Skarsgård in this new film. Vries is a character straight from Herbert's novel, and was previously portrayed in Lynch's film by Brad Dourif.
Dastmalchian is a terrific character actor who's appeared in plenty of notable projects on the big and small screen. Many may know him as Kurt in the Ant-Man franchise, but he got his start in The Dark Knight in 2008. He's also been on The Flash, Gotham, and MacGyver, and even has a David Lynch connection thanks to his role in the Twin Peaks revival. This will be his third project with Villeneuve though, after Dastmalchian previously had roles in Prisoners and Blade Runner 2049. He joins Josh Brolin and Dave Bautista as cast members to have a pre-existing working relationship with Villeneuve.
Now that Dastmalchian is part of the ensemble, it may show that there's still a few other roles left for Villeneuve to cast. The movie also will feature appearances by Javier Bardem, Zendaya as Paul's love interest, and Charlotte Rampling, so whoever else joins will be part of a cast that appears to become more impressive by the day. Whether Dastmalchian is the final cast member or not, Dune's cast should be finalized soon with filming set to begin shortly.
MORE: Denis Villeneuve's Dune Gets November 2020 Release Date
Source: Deadline
