Denis Villeneuve teases Zendaya will have a more prominent role in Dune: Part 2 than in the first film. Writer/director Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction novel was released last year in theaters and on HBO Max. The film follows Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), the heir of nobleman Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac), who has been tasked with ruling over the desert planet of Arrakis per the Emperor. This leaves House Atreides to deal with the native Fremen and the malicious House Harkonnen—who force Paul and his mother to flee into the desert following the murder of the Duke. In addition to Chalamet and Isaac, Dune stars Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, David Dastmalchian, Jason Momoa, Javier Bardem, and Zendaya.
The film covers the first half of Herbert's novel. That said, it wasn’t clear whether audiences would get to see the second half until box-office and streaming results indicated Dune 2 would be profitable. Thankfully, Dune was a financial success and has been praised for its performances, visuals, score, and even managed to score ten Academy Award nominations. Warner Bros. and Legendary have greenlit Dune: Part 2, which will begin filming later in 2022 and release in theaters next year.
In a recent interview with Variety, Villeneuve talked about how Zendaya’s character, Chani, will have a more prominent role in Dune 2. Via Paul’s visions, the first film teases his future with Chani as they lead the Fremen against House Harkonnen and the Emperor. Chalamet and Zendaya don’t really appear on screen together until the end of the film, and Chani has very little screen time overall. Dune was a five-month shoot and Zendaya was only on set for five days. Read Villeneuve’s comments on her future in the franchise below:
For Zendaya, I will say Part One was a promise. I know that we saw a glimpse of her in Part One, but in Part Two, she'll have a prominent part. We will follow Timothée and Zendaya on their adventures in the desert. That's the thing that excited me most about going back to Arrakis is to spend time with those characters again.
The second half of Herbert’s novel focuses on Paul and Lady Jessica’s time with the Fremen. In the book, Chani inducts Paul in the ways of the Fremen and helps him in his fight for Arrakis. Villeneuve is right to say that fans can expect more Zendaya in Dune 2 as her character becomes very close to the Atreides heir. In the above interview, Villeneuve went on to talk about how excited he is to explore more of the desert with these characters and is anticipating a big scene involving sandworms in Dune: Part 2, which will be "very complicated" and "one of the beautiful challenges" of his career.
As two of the world’s most popular movie stars, Zendaya and Chalamet headlining Dune: Part 2 will continue to drive enthusiasm for the sequel. Audiences are no doubt excited to see the two share more time together on screen. On top of that, the follow-up will reportedly feature Florence Pugh, who Villeneuve says “things are not solidified” with, but he is a "big fan of Florence." Elvis star Austin Butler is also in early talks to star as the major villain Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, is the nephew of the cruel Baron Harkonnen. Dune is available to stream on HBO Max. Dune: Part 2 is scheduled to be released on October 20, 2023.
Source: Variety
