Zendaya Eyeing Love-Interest Role In Villeneuve’s Dune

The Greatest Showman actress Zendaya is reportedly circling a supporting role in Legendary Pictures’ forthcoming adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic Dune.

She’s supposedly in final talks to star opposite Timothy Chalamet’s protagonist, and would join an impressive cast that presently includes Oscar Isaac (Star Wars: The Last Jedi), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible – Fallout), Dave Bautista (Avengers: Infinity War), and Stellan Skarsgård (Nymphomaniac).

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 families vie for control of entire planets. The book tells the story of Paul Atreides (Chalamet), as his family is gifted stewardship over the valuable 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 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 destiny.

One of the most famous and celebrated science fiction novels of all time, 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. The novel was memorably adapted previously as 1984’s Dune by director David Lynch, and starring Kyle MacLachlan, Sir Patrick Stewart, Max Von Sydow, and Sting.

Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival director Denis Villeneuve is set to helm this latest production, and co-wrote the script with screenwriters Eric Roth (Forrest Gump) and Jon Spaihts (Doctor Strange).

Zendaya can next be seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel Spider-Man: Far From Home, opposite British actor Tom Holland, which is due out in UK cinemas on the 5th of July this year.