The cast of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune saga has just gained an important new member. Florence Pugh is in talks to play Princess Irulan in the upcoming sequel, reuniting with Little Women costar Timothée Chalamet.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Pugh hasn’t officially signed on just yet, as the actress is still awaiting a revised script for Dune, Part Two. Though with the sequel currently set to begin production this summer for an October 2023 release, the deal should hopefully be finalized soon.
This casting choice seems to be made with an eye towards future sequels beyond Dune Part 2. Princess Irulan is a minor character in the original Dune novel. The daughter of the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV, Irulan is caught up in the growing conflict between House Atreides and House Corrino. Excerpts of Irulan’s writings about Paul Atreides serve as chapter breaks and epigraphs in the first book, but Irulan plays a much more significant role in the sequel, Dune Messiah.
THR notes that casting is still underway for several other key roles in the sequel, including Shaddam IV himself and Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, the twisted nephew of Stellan Skarsgård’s Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.
Pugh is also appearing in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming biopic Oppenheimer. Pugh plays Jean Tatlock, a Communist Party member and occasional lover to Cillian Murphy’s Robert Oppenheimer.
Check out IGN’s explainer on what to expect from Dune, Part Two, including which characters may return and which new characters are likely to be introduced. Then find out about the original opening scene Villeneuve abandoned because it would have consumed the film’s entire budget.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
