Zendaya In Talks To Join Denis Villeneuve’s Dune As Chani
by Erik Amaya
Zendaya is leaping across the stars from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to planet Arrakis.
Variety is confirming an earlier Collider report that Spider-Man: Far From Home‘s Zendaya is in talks to join the cast of director Denis Villeneuve’s production of Dune. The classic Frank Herbert novel tells the tale of a planet famous for its multi-purpose energy source/consciousness-expanding drug. The indigenous people of that planet are known as the Fremen. They live in groups known as sietches and are skilled fighters despite the apparent domesticity of Fremen living in the few cities occupied by the Universal Empire.
Zendaya will play Chani, a Fremen warrior woman who is literally in the dreams of young Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet), the ducal heir to House Atreides and the first expression of a Fremen messianic prophecy.
Other members of the cast include Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto Atreides, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Paul’s mother and Leto’s royal concubine, Stellan Skarsgard as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen — the principle antagonist — Dave Bautista as the Baron’s cruel nephew Rabban and Charlotte Rampling as the Reverend Mother Helen Gaius Mohiam, head of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood; the group which first planted the prophecy within Fremen society.
The film will begin production soon, but it is unclear when it will be released.
