Wow. I only did one of these a couple of days ago so I hope it won’t annoy anyone that I’m back. I’m just so excited about this upcoming version of my favourite book and it seems like ages ago that we had some news. To have two big casting announcements in a week is fantastic and I couldn’t resist marking it with another post.

According to various news outlets, Denis Villeneuve’s project now has its Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. Stellan Skarsgård has signed on to play the villainous Baron, uncle to Dave Bautista ‘s Rabban, and this is another announcement that fills me with hope for the film. Skarsgård has great pedigree and is a quality actor who can bring real gravitas to the role. I also think he’ll be able to put over the Baron’s self-indulgent appetites brilliantly.

Gothenburg-born Stellan Skarsgård first came to my attention in his role as Captain Tupolev in 1990’s The Hunt for Red October but he’d already been in the business for over 20 years at that point. He’s great in Good Will Hunting and I actually quite liked the Exorcist prequel he did. He’s also good value in the MCU films.

In my opinion this is another quality addition to the cast and I see this working very well. I still think Dominic West would have been excellent in the role, but I can’t argue with the thinking here. He would have suited a number of roles; Shaddam IV, Thufir, Yueh or even maybe Duke Leto.  The Baron is a great fit for him, though. I wonder what they will do with costume and makeup.

There are likely to be more announcements coming thick and fast over the next few months so I might start grouping these posts into a monthly update so I don’t start irritating people by posting too often about it. If we get any major announcements, like Leto, Gurney, Stilgar or Duncan I’ll probably not be able to help myself from commenting.  In the meantime, you can see my other reaction posts below.

Cheers,

Richard

Fantasy Casting – Dune

Casting Dune – Dave Bautista initial reactions

Casting Dune – Mary Herman rumour reactions

Casting Dune – Rebecca Ferguson initial reactions

Casting Dune – Timothee Chalamet initial reactions