Dune fans have another reason to get excited, with Director Denis Villeneuve confirming a much bigger role for Zendaya in the sequel.
Last October, after the immense success of Dune, Warner Bros. and Villeneuve announced a follow-up film. And everybody who has seen the film will understand, that is a much needed thing. As Dune (as wonderful as it is) isn’t a whole story.
The marketing for the film suggested that Zendaya was a prominent character. However, her part is quite small and spends most of the time in psychedelic flashes from Timothée Chalamet’s Paul.
Though that probably wasn’t a surprise to fans of Frank Herbert’s original book, it was to us normies. But it seems that is being reprimanded in part 2 of Dune.
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Speaking on Variety’s Award Circuit podcast, the Director promised Zendaya’s role would be significantly larger.
“For Zendaya, I will say Part One was a promise,” said Villeneuve. “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.”
Villeneuve also addressed the heavily circulating rumour that Florence Pugh would be joining the cast as Princess Irulan, the daughter of the Emperor.
He suggested that things are not yet “solidified” but was a big fan of the actress.
Speaking with Deadline, Zendaya explained that she was only part of the film’s shoot for 5 days. But, is looking forward to developing the character.
“I want to grow with the characters I play,” said the actress. “With the people I get to lean on. Anybody who has read the books knows there’s so much more to explore and deal with.”
“What was cool for me, having not been around for much of the first shoot, was getting to see the movie from a completely fresh perspective, because I hadn’t seen the sets and the scenes for most of the movie. And watching it felt like the beginning of this story.”
The second part of Dune is expected in October, 2023. So, if you haven’t seen the first film yet, you have time.
Check out the trailer for Dune below!
