Even David Lynch knows Dune isn’t an easy novel to adapt.
Yet, somehow, director Denis Villeneuve has found a way into Frank Herbert’s 1965 epic. At least if we’re to believe actor David Dastmalchian, who recently told CinemaBlend that fans have zero reason to sweat over the forthcoming adaptation.
“I can’t really discuss much about the script or the plot itself,” Dastmalchian admitted, “but I can just tell you that that old phrase ‘true to the spirit’ or ‘honoring the spirit of’ [applies].”
Granted, he hasn’t seen the most recent script, but he added, “the way Denis has talked about the film and what I’ve seen, it’s absolutely true to and in honor of everything that Frank put into the novel … [Denis is] just so fearless, man. He makes choices and then he goes into the places that we need right now as audiences.”
(Read: 2017 Filmmaker of the Year Denis Villeneuve on Crafting the Essential Sequel)
Dastmalchian went on to insist that the “level of maturity and complexity in Herbert’s writing” is all over the film, which is why he didn’t revisit Lynch’s 1984 adaptation. He stressed, “I believe what he’s going to do here, it’s just going to take people to a whole other place.”
We’ll find out over a spicy Thanksgiving on November 20, 2020. At the very least, the cast will be a spectacle to watch: Timothee Chalamet as Paul Atreides, Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto, Rebecca Ferguson as Jessica Atreides, Stellan Skarsgard as Vladimir Harkonnen, Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban, Javier Bardem as Stilgar, Zendaya as Chani, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, David Dastmalchian as Piter De Vries, Charlotte Rampling as Reverend Mother Mohiam, Chang Chen as Dr. Wellington Yueh, and Fences star Stephen Henderson in an undisclosed role.