Pre-shooting on Dune: Part Two has begun in Italy and now a new set photo has emerged giving fans their first look at Black Widow star Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan Corrino. The photo, which was shared on social media earlier this week (you can see it here), isn’t the best quality but does give some basic idea of how Pugh will look in the eagerly anticipated follow up to 2021’s Dune. Production on Dune: Part Two is expected to officially begin in Budapest, Hungary on July 21st.
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It was reported earlier this year that Pugh was in talks to join Dune as Princess Irulan, the eldest daughter of Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV. In the novels, Irulan eventually becomes the wife of Paul Atreides, playing an important role in the saga.
“It’s going to be another beautiful journey in the desert again,” filmmaker Denis Villeneuve previously explained. “It’s the journey where Paul Atreides and his mother, Lady Jessica, make contact with the Fremen culture and meet with the Fremen. It’s Paul’s journey against the enemy … it’s a movie that will be more cinematic.”
Pugh is joined in the film by Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, and Josh Brolin, who are all returning from the first film. Dune: Part Two will also see Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, and Austin Butler join the cast.
Ahead of the release of Dune, the filmmaking team made it clear that the film would only adapt the first half of the Frank Herbert novel, with this upcoming sequel set to conclude the adventure. Writer Jon Spaihts previously revealed, however, that talks have already happened of potentially developing the book Dune Messiah into a film, completing a live-action trilogy.
“Dune Messiah is the next book, and it’s one of three books with Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune, that covers the lives of the characters we meet in the first novel,” Spaihts explained to The Playlist earlier this year. “Subsequently, there’s a giant leap in time and the series gets stranger and more epic as it carries on. But Dune Messiah picks up years after the close of Dune, and yes, Denis has talked seriously about making that film as well, as a conclusion of the trilogy. Dune Messiah is a very interesting book, which in some ways, deconstructs Dune and plays as a cautionary tale, even more than Dune does, about the dangers of blending religion and politics, the hazards of following charismatic leaders, and the dangerous struggle that’s always alive between the individual and institutions.”
Dune: Part Two is scheduled to open in theaters on November 17, 2023.
