Timothée Chalamet in Final Talks to Join Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ Remake

After starring in a couple of award-winning films last year, Timothée Chalamet is in final talks to join the remake of Dune, one of the most celebrated science fiction films of all time. Denis Villeneuve is attached to direct the relaunch of the movie for Legendary Pictures.

According to Deadline, Chalamet will play Paul Atreides, Dune‘s protagonist and a role that was previously played by Kyle MacLachlan in the 1984 film. Legendary acquired the rights to the novels by Frank Herbert and intends to produce multiple movies based on the sci-fi epic. Surrealist filmmaker David Lynch directed the first Dune adaptation and followed the story of a years-long conflict between rival noble families as they fight over control of planet “Arrakis,” also known as Dune. The planet is the only source of a drug called “the spice” (melange in the movie’s official terminology), which enables anyone who takes it to have abilities of foreknowledge and to travel across space.

Villeneuve’s Dune adaptation will be intended for the small screen and follows the director’s critically-acclaimed films like Sicario, Arrival, and Blade Runner 2049. Chalamet, on the other hand, was last year’s Oscar newbie who starred in Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name and Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird—both of which were nominated for an Oscar as well. The actor will star in two upcoming movies this year, one being A24’s Hot Summer Nights and Beautiful Boy (in which Chalamet co-stars with Steve Carell), an Oscar contender from Amazon Studios.

Dune is Villeneuve’s latest project after Blade Runner 2049.