Dune casting alert! Fresh off the heels of the news that Florence Pugh is in negotiations to play Princess Irulan, we get news that Austin Butler may play Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in Denis Villenueve’s upcoming Dune: Part 2.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Butler is in talks to take on Baron Harkonnen’s cunningly ruthless nephew, Feyd-Rautha. In Frank Herbert’s novel, Feyd-Rautha plays a major role in the story. He was left out of Dune: Part 1, however, a choice that Villeneuve made in hopes that Part 2 would get greenlit so he could complete his adaptation of Herbert’s work.
That gamble paid off, and Dune: Part 2 is moving ahead with filming expected to start this summer.
This isn’t the first time Butler will have a major role in a genre project. Back in 2016 he played the half-human, half-elf Wil Ohmsford in the MTV adaptation of Terry Brooks’ The Chronicles of Shannara fantasy series. He’s also starring as Elvis in Baz Luhrman’s eponymous biopic, which is set to come out this summer.
If cast, Butler will join Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, and (maybe) Florence Pugh as one of the major characters of Part 2.
The last major role yet to be cast (according to the trades, at least) is Emperor Shaddam IV, who is the father of Princess Irulan and the ruler of the Galactic Padishah Empire. My guess is we’ll get some news as who will be playing that sooner rather than later, given both Pugh and Butler were announced in the last few days.
We’ll have to wait until October 2023, however, to see all their performances in Dune: Part 2 on the big screen.
