Rebecca Ferguson, last seen in this summer’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout, is in talks to join the cast of director Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of the classic science-fiction novel Dune.
Ferguson would be playing Lady Jessica, the mother of the young hero of the story, Paul Atreides. Call Me By Your Name star Timothee Chalamet has already been cast to play Paul. Production is expected to begin early next year.
In Dune, Paul discovers that he may be the prophesized religious figure destined to overthrow the ruling Galactic Empire with his mother Jessica belonging to the religious order that has been covertly working to bring about his rise. Originally released in 1965, author Frank Herbert[‘s book shoots religious, political and environmental themes through a science-fiction prism, combining them into a story that was instantly recognized as a classic and which had a profound influence on literary science-fiction moving forward. Herbert would pen 5 sequels himself before dying in 1986. In more recent years, his son Brian Herbert has authored or co-authored a number of additional entries in the series.
The book was infamously adapted for the screen once before, by director David Lynch. A critical and box office dud, it did feature some interesting and beautiful art direction and production design.
Villeneuve has already carved out a name for himself with thoughtful cinematic science-fiction films like Arrival and Blade Runner 2049. With the novel being in part about Paul’s interior emotions about the events he finds himself in, Villeneuve might just be the person to do the novel some justice.
