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Austin Butler and Florence Pugh are among the newcomers already on board the second part of Legendary’s adaptation of the Frank Herbert sci-fi classic.
By Borys Kit
Senior Film Writer
In a late addition to the roll call, Tim Blake Nelson has joined the high-flying cast of Dune: Part 2, Denis Villeneuve’s sprawling adaptation of the Frank Herbert sci-fi classic being made by Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment.
The actor, who becomes a first-time author when his debut novel, City of Blows, hits in February, joins Dune newcomers Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux and Christopher Walken on the project that officially wrapped shooting in mid-December.
The newcomers join returning actors Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson and Javier Bardem.
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Character details for Nelson’s role are being kept deep in the sand. The sequel takes on the second half of Herbert’s 1965 novel, with Paul Atreides (Chalamet) teaming with the desert-dwelling Fremen to liberate the planet of Arrakis from the vicious House Harkonnen.
Dune: Part 2 will be released Nov. 3,. The first movie, Dune, opened simultaneously in domestic theaters and HBO Max Oct. 22, 2021, grossing $400.6 million at the worldwide box office and earning 10 Academy Award nominations, including for best picture, and winning six.
Villeneuve is directing Dune: Part 2 from a script he co-wrote with Jon Spaihts. Mary Parent, Villeneuve, Cale Boyter, Tanya Lapointe and Patrick McCormick are producing the movie.
Nelson was most recently be seen in Guillermo del Toro’s Netflix series Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities and reteamed with the filmmaker for Netflix’s stop-motion feature, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, voicing the character of Black Rabbit. The movie debuted on streaming Dec. 9 and has been nominated for best animated feature at the 2023 Critic’s Choice Awards.
In 2021, Nelson stepped into leading man territory when he starred in Potsy Ponciroli’s action-Western Old Henry, receiving universal praise for his commanding performance.
City of Blows, from Unnamed Press, aims to tell sordidness and absurdity of the movie industry with a story that juggles multiple characters — an aging and legendary producer, a hustling young upstart, ruthless agents, ambitious actors, and pressured directors — in a story that involves the adaptation of a best-selling novel and a producer bent on revenge.
Nelson is repped by UTA, Gateway Management and Brecheen Feldman.
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