Able to flit between the worlds of massive franchise filmmaking (Black Widow) and indie movie land (Midsommar, Little Women) with ease, Florence Pugh is now in talks for another giant role. If the deal works out, she'll play Princess Irulan, daughter of Emperor Shaddam IV in Dune: Part Two.
Before you start cheering the notion of a Little Women reunion between Pugh and Timothée Chalamet, The Hollywood Reporter cautions that the actor is waiting to see the script before any final decision. Though given that the new movie boasts the return of co-writer/director Denis Villeneuve and co-writer Jon Spaihts, who are Oscar nominated for their screenplay, we doubt that'll be much of a concern. A thornier issue could be scheduling, especially if Pugh agrees to play Madonna in the musician's new biopic.
The Dune sequel – well, more of a continuation of the story, since it's roughly the second half of the book – which Villeneuve is aiming to start shooting this summer, picks up after Paul Atreides (Chalamet) and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) escape into the unforgiving Arrakis desert with the native Fremen. They'll soon start to lead the fight back against the evil Harkonnen and the scheming Emperor. No spoilers here, but let's just say that Irulan and Paul have... complicated connections.
Other roles still to be cast include the Emperor and Feyd-Rautha, the cunning nephew of Baron Harkonnen, who was so memorably brought to the screen by Sting in the 1984 David Lynch adaptation.
Dune: Part 2 will be out on 20 October next year. Pugh is currently busy working on Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer besides approximately half of all actors in the world.