Denis Villeneuve teases bigger Florence Pugh role in Dune Messiah script
Pugh plays Princess Irulan in the hotly-anticipated second part of the epic sci-fi adaptation.
As if the cast for the first Dune film wasn't already star-studded enough, the newly released Dune: Part Two introduces several more big names to the ensemble – with Christopher Walken, Austin Butler and Léa Seydoux among those to take on important roles.
But perhaps one of the most intriguing new additions to the cast is Florence Pugh, who has a key part as the Emperor's daughter, Princess Irulan.
In the Frank Herbert novel, this character serves an extremely crucial purpose – with each chapter beginning with an excerpt from her writings – but she appears relatively briefly in the events of the narrative itself.
That means that although Pugh undoubtedly excels in the scenes in which she appears in the new film, she has far less screen time than some of her co-stars, such as Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, who reprise their roles as Paul Atreides and Chani respectively.
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But the good news for fans of the Oppenheimer and Midsommar star is that we can expect to see much more of her in the future, thanks to director Denis Villeneuve's plans to adapt the follow-up novel, Dune Messiah, next.
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Although another film has not been officially greenlit at this stage, the filmmaker has long been clear about his intentions to continue the saga, and it seems very likely that it will get the go-ahead given the rave reviews and strong box office projections for Dune: Part Two.
And when that film does arrive, Villeneuve has teased that Pugh will have a much more substantial role.
"I approached her saying to her that Irulan will have the same journey from Part Two to the next movie as Chani [had] from Part One to Part Two," he explained in an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com.
"In Part One, we barely such Chani - she was just, like, a ghost, a dream. She was introduced at the end of Part One and then she became one of the main characters of Part Two, and it will be the same for Irulan."
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Speaking about why he thought Pugh the right fit for the role, Villeneuve described her as "one of the best actresses of her generation".
He explained: "One thing that was important for me is that the audience will never perceive Irulan as a victim, and I needed an actress that would be able to convey tremendous amounts of information with no lines and just her eyes."
Meanwhile, on the subject of Dune Messiah – for which a script is believed to already be in progress – Villeneuve explained how he enjoyed sowing seeds for the planned next instalment while he was making the new film.
"Which is very fun, by the way," he said. "To make – like Herbert did when he was writing his book – myself like the main character, Paul, to make projections in the future and try to foresee what could be done and to create the foundations of ideas that could find their full potential in the future."
Dune: Part Two is released in UK cinemas on 1st March 2024. Check out more of our Sci-Fi or Film coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.
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