Over the past few days, director Denis Villeneuve has been assembling one of the most impressive casts for his upcoming adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune. Among those stars was Javier Bardem, who’ll be playing Stilgar. When talking with CinemaBlend, the Skyfall actor spoke reverently about Villeneuve, as well as his profession.
Recalling Villeneuve asking him to be part of hte film, Bardem said: “Are you kidding? How much do I have to pay? It’s one of those blessings that you have in this amazing, blessed life that I happen to have: having a job that I love, and make a living with, and also work with people that I truly admire and respect, and I’m getting inspired by it. It’s a lot.”
While Stilgar is an important character in Herbert’s first book, titled simply Dune, Villeneuve plans on splitting the book into two films, though not many details are known about how he’ll approach the source material beyond that. However he chooses to approach it, Bardem will remain happy to be a part of revisiting a world he grew up loving — both the book series and David Lynch’s… misunderstood 1984 adaptation.
“I read the first three books, and, of course, I saw David Lynch’s film. I’m going to be turning 50 on March 1st, so I saw David Lynch’s film, which I loved. I remember the day I saw it in 1984, I think, and it was weird! And I loved it! It was big and weird, and those sandworms!“
RELATED: Dune Movie Release Date Set for November 2020
Set in the distant future, Dune follows Paul Atreides, whose family assumes control of the desert planet Arrakis. As the only producer of a highly valuable resource, jurisdiction over Arrakis is contested among competing noble families. After Atreides is betrayed, he leads a rebellion to restore his family’s reign.
If Dune proves to have better luck at the box office than Lynch’s film, then there’s plenty of material for sequels. Herbert wrote five additional Dune novels before his death in 1986. Herbert’s son, Brian Herbert and novelist Kevin J. Anderson collaborated on a number of Dune books as well. Brian Herbert and Anderson are both involved with the Dune remake, as an executive producer and creative consultant, respectively.
Dune will debut in theaters on November 20, 2020.
