Dune, Part Two has just cast another major new role, and it's a doozy. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Christopher Walken is joining the cast as the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV.
Walken's character is referenced in the original movie, but Dune, Part Two marks the first time fans will see the Emperor in the flesh. The role was previously played by José Ferrer in 1984's Dune and Giancarlo Giannini in the 2000 Syfy miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune.
In the Dune universe, Shaddam IV is the head of the all-powerful House Corrino. Shaddam is a monarch who rules over the known galaxy and shares an uneasy balance of power with the other houses of the Landsraad, the Spacing Guild and the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood. As revealed in the first movie, Shaddam conspired with House Harkonnen to destroy House Atreides, which he views as a threat to his rule.
Also joining the cast for Dune, Part Two are Black Widow's Florence Pugh as Shaddam's daughter, the Princess Irulan and Elvis star Austin Butler as the deadly Feyd-Rautha.
Weirdly enough, Walken's casting was foreshadowed more than 20 years ago in director Spike Jonze's music video for the Fatboy Slim song "Weapon of Choice." Walken stars in the video as a traveling businessman dancing through the halls of a hotel, and the song includes the Dune-inspired lyrics "Walk without rhythm, it won't attract the worm."
Dune, Part Two was officially announced in October 2021, with the sequel hitting theaters in October 2023. Director Denis Villeneuve will return alongside most of the Part One cast. Villeneuve recently confirmed the screenplay is "mostly finished" and final preparations are underway before filming begins.
For more on the sequel, find out exactly what you can expect from Dune, Part Two.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
Continue reading...
Walken's character is referenced in the original movie, but Dune, Part Two marks the first time fans will see the Emperor in the flesh. The role was previously played by José Ferrer in 1984's Dune and Giancarlo Giannini in the 2000 Syfy miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune.
In the Dune universe, Shaddam IV is the head of the all-powerful House Corrino. Shaddam is a monarch who rules over the known galaxy and shares an uneasy balance of power with the other houses of the Landsraad, the Spacing Guild and the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood. As revealed in the first movie, Shaddam conspired with House Harkonnen to destroy House Atreides, which he views as a threat to his rule.
Also joining the cast for Dune, Part Two are Black Widow's Florence Pugh as Shaddam's daughter, the Princess Irulan and Elvis star Austin Butler as the deadly Feyd-Rautha.
Weirdly enough, Walken's casting was foreshadowed more than 20 years ago in director Spike Jonze's music video for the Fatboy Slim song "Weapon of Choice." Walken stars in the video as a traveling businessman dancing through the halls of a hotel, and the song includes the Dune-inspired lyrics "Walk without rhythm, it won't attract the worm."
Dune, Part Two was officially announced in October 2021, with the sequel hitting theaters in October 2023. Director Denis Villeneuve will return alongside most of the Part One cast. Villeneuve recently confirmed the screenplay is "mostly finished" and final preparations are underway before filming begins.
For more on the sequel, find out exactly what you can expect from Dune, Part Two.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
Continue reading...