‘Dune: Part Two’: Florence Pugh in Talks to Join Sequel!!

One of the hottest young talents in Hollywood working today is Florence Pugh. She has been everywhere from big Marvel projects to cult horror films, and it looks like the young star has found her next major franchise role. According to Deadline, Pugh is in talks for the role of Princess Irulan Corrino in the highly anticipated sequel to Dune. The eldest daughter of Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV, the character did not appear in the latest adaptation, but was mentioned by name, and was portrayed by José Ferrer in the 1984 David Lynch film.

If this turns out to be true, Pugh would join the star-studded returning cast of Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya and Josh Brolin. Director, producer, and co-screenwriter Denis Villeneuve is also returning for the sequel, which would also reunite Pugh with Chalamet, who she co-starred with in the 2019 remake of Little Women.

Along with her Oscar nominated role in Little Women, Pugh has starred in many critically acclaimed films like Lady Macbeth, Fighting With My Family, Outlaw King, and Malevolent, and she has recently taken the MCU by storm as Yelena Belova in Black Widow and the Disney+ Hawkeye series. However, arguably her best role so far has been in the horror thriller Midsommar, which many genre fans are still traumatized over and thought she should have been nominated for her role in that film over Little Women, which came out the same year. Nevertheless, Pugh has shown that she is the complete package. She can do comedy, commit to action scenes, and she can sell drama really well, all traits that are crucial for a franchise like Dune.

Dune was one of the films that was highly affected by the day and date release strategy from Warner Brothers last year, but even with HBO Max taking a lot of its box office, the sci-fi epic still managed to have an impressive $41 million opening weekend, before collectively making $400 million worldwide in its entire run. The film was also helped by amazing critical and audience receptions, and it has been nominated for ten Oscars, including the top prize of Best Picture. The sequel is currently in pre-production and is expected to start filming sometime this fall for an October 20, 2023, release date.

Pugh is currently filming Christopher Nolan’s biopic Oppenheimer which, like the Dune franchise, has an insanely stacked cast that features the likes of Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, and Emily Blunt. The actress has also recently finished the upcoming Netflix movie The Wonder and her next film Don’t Worry Darling directed by Olivia Wilde is releasing this September.