Another day, another piece of the Dune casting puzzle falls into place. Once again, the person tn question taking on a role, is of the “internet breaking” caliber. An actor whose fan base is so large, they had to put him in a movie set almost entirely underwater. Yes, Deadline has the scoop that Jason Momoa, hot off the success of Aquaman (currently cassing $1bil at the box office), is in talks to join the already stacked Dune. There’s really no other jokes to make at this point, things are just getting that ridiculous here.
The craziest part isn’t Momoa coming on board, but who he’d be playing: Duncan Idaho. The character’s slightly different than what the actor’s done before, at least when it comes to books two and three in the series. Which, yes, is getting ahead of things a bit, but with the cast assembled as is, they’re definitely going to make the full trilogy. Unless everything goes David Lynch-levels of wonky (something this writer would fully embrace). At the start though, the part will fit like a glove. Momoa brings a strong physicality to Idaho, who, in the books is one of Duke Leto’s (Oscar Isaac) right hand men and is a mentor to his son, Paul (Timothee Chalamet), alongside Gurney Halleck (the recently added Josh Brolin). As well as becoming an ambassador to the Fremen on Arrakis, where he works with Stilgar (Javier Bardem).
That last bit may be a bit cluttered, but it’s there to remind you exactly how nuts and loaded with talent this film is. There’s nothing to do but just be in awe at this point. Every time a new name gets added to Denis Villenueve’s Dune adaptation, it seems like the whole thing will be revealed to be a joke. While the Avengers films do exist, it took years to build up to it. This many big stars, in one film, seems almost unfair. What it shows though, is that Legendary wants to go all in on Dune. That much, in and of itself is cause for excitement. Not very often does a big budget picture come along, whose source novel is deeply entrenched in space politics and religious iconography. Sure, things could be dumbed down, but Villenueve’s involvement doesn’t give off that vibe.
Now, all this said, it could very well fall apart overnight. The majority of the names that have been announced have only been listed as “in talks”. Doesn’t guarantee anything. At the same time, there haven’t been any reports to suggest anything has fallen through. Thought, it would seem, money is no object, in assembling things here. With filming set to take place rather soon, they can’t afford any slip ups.
There’s still a few names left on the massive Dune casting board to fill in, so don’t let down your guard yet. At this point, even the smaller parts could be huge names. It boggles the mind that this is the road that’s being gone down. But, you know what, it’s as exciting as it is exhausting. Which is something you don’t often get to say, when it comes to a movie like this. The moment more news crops up (so, two hours from now?), we’ll make sure to let you know.
