Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ Looks To ‘Mission: Impossible’ Star Rebecca Ferguson For Female Lead
Denis Villeneuve’sDuneadaptation may have found its Lady Jessica.Mission: ImpossiblebreakoutRebecca Fergusonis in talks to join theDunecast as the female lead, oppositeTimothée Chalamet, who has already been cast as Paul Atreides.Frank Herbert’s epic sci-fi novelDuneis like the filmmaker’s Mount Everest — sprawling, dense, and near-impossible to adapt. But with the right cast, Villeneuve may just be able to pull it off. TheBlade Runner 2049director has already landed Oscar nominee and new Hollywood It Boy Timothée Chalamet for the lead role of Paul Atreides, and nowVarietyreports thatMission: Impossible — Rogue NationandFalloutbreakout Ferguson is in negotiations with Legendary to star as the female lead.
Ferguson is reportedly circling the role of the undisclosed female lead, which — going by Herbert’s seminal book — would be that of Lady Jessica, a concubine of Duke Leto and the mother of Paul Atreides. Francesca Annis played the character in the 1984 David Lynch adaptation, while Saskia Reeves took on the role in the 2000 Sci-Fi Channel TV miniseriesFrank Herbert’s Dune, later succeeded by Alice Krige in the 2003 sequel.
Ferguson has long deserved a chance to shine outside of theMission: Impossiblefilms, and her next big breakout role seemed to elude her (that thankless role inThe Greatest Showmanwillnever be enoughfor us). ThoughDuneis a daunting career choice, it will definitely be her biggest platform yet: all eyes are trained on Villeneuve, who has not made a bad movie yet. And with Chalamet on the cast, well,Dunewill no doubt be one of the most beautiful casts ever.
IfDunewas impossible to adapt, it’s even more impossible to summarize. Herbert’s 1965 book is set on the desert planet Arrakis and mainly follows the story of “Paul Atreides—who would become known as Muad’Dib—and of a great family’s ambition to bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.” A potent drug called “the spice” also comes into play, giving its users “heightened consciousness and an extended lifespan at the cost of crippling addiction and fatal withdrawal.”
Wisely, Villeneuve plans to split the dense first novelinto at least two films, likely to avoid the failings of previous adaptations. In the 1970s, Alejandro Jodorowsky tried and failed to mount his own weird, ambitiousDuneadaptation (which was chronicled in the fascinating documentaryJodorowsky’s Dune). David Lynch famously disowned his 1984 adaptation. And in 2000, the Sci-Fi Channel released a miniseries adaptation of the book, which went on to become one of the highest-rated programs in Sci-Fi’s history.
Dunehas long been apassion project of Villeneuve’s, and it seems like he’s serious about getting it right. The filmmaker directs a script byEric Roth, who has reportedly finisheda first draft of the script. Production will likely begin soon.
