Josh Brolin Signs On For Villeneuve’s Star-Studded Dune Adaptation

Avengers: Infinity War actor Josh Brolin has joined the cast of Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Dune.

Villeneuve also co-wrote the script with Eric Roth (Forrest Gump) and Jon Spaihts (Doctor Strange), adapted from Frank Herbert’s iconic science-fiction magnum opus, and the feature will be lead by indie darling Timothy Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name).

Brolin joins an A-List cast that also includes Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina), Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible – Fallout), Zendaya (The Greatest Showman), and Stellan Skarsgård (Thor).

Herbert’s original 1965 novel is set in the distant future of humanity’s existence, and follows a feudal intergalactic society in which proud, noble houses vie for control of entire planets. Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides (Chalamet), whose storied family is gifted stewardship over the desert planet Arrakis, home to the coveted spice ‘melange’ – a drug that gives the user a longer life span, greater vitality, and heightened awareness. Melange, often simply referred to as ‘the spice’, is the most important and valuable substance in the universe, and as such, control of Arrakis is a dangerous undertaking that paints a target on the back of Paul’s family, forever altering the course of his life. The story explores the multiple facets that encompass the inter-sectionalism of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion, as the many factions struggle against each other for control of Arrakis.

Brolin will play the grizzled warrior Gurney Halleck; warmaster for Chalamet’s family and a mentor to his character. The role was previously portrayed by Patrick Stewart in David Lynch’s much-maligned 1984 adaptation of the same property.

Dune is currently lacking a formal release date, but the film is deep into pre-production, with shooting expected to commence shortly. Josh Brolin can next be seen returning as the mad titan Thanos in Avengers: Endgame – due out on the 25th of April, 2019.