Dune: Zendaya In Talks To Play Chani

Zendaya

by James White |
Published on

The cast for Denis Villeneuve's ambitious attempt to film Frank Herbert's science fiction saga Dune continues to grow, and the director is truly aiming for a fascinating, eclectic cast. If Collider's sources are correct, the next person hopping aboard will be Spider-Man: Homecoming's Zendaya.

With word just yesterday that Oscar Isaac is making a deal to play Duke Leto Atreides, father of Paul (Timothée Chalamet), Zendaya, assuming her casting works out, would be another key person in his life. She's up for the role of Chani, one of the natives of planet Arrakis who are known as Fremen. When the Atreides family wrangles control of the sandy globe, only to be betrayed by the Emperor and other powerful families, Paul has to flee into the harsh desert terrain along with his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson). There, Chani – who Paul has already seen in dreams before they even meet – is assigned to protect and guide him, and the two become close even as he rises to be a religious leader among the Fremen.

If Villeneuve manages the feat of making more than one movie from the books (something that evaded David Lynch in 1984), Chani will become an even more pivotal character. Zendaya would join a cast that already also includes Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling and Dave Bautista.

Dune should be shooting this year. Zendaya is back as MJ in Spider-Man: Far From Home (out 5 July) and will work on an HBO drama called Euphoria. And no-one, of course, should forget this{ =nofollow}.

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