Timothée Chalamet May Be the Kwisatz Haderach in New Dune Film

Hot off his Oscar nominations this year for Call Me By Your Name, Timothée Chalamet is apparently the frontrunner to take on the role of the Kwisatz Haderach Paul Atreides/Muad’Dib in Denis Villeneuve‘s upcoming Dune adaptation for Legendary Pictures.

The Hollywood Reporter says the talented young actor is currently “in talks” to star in the film, which would answer several questions about the general age of the main characters in this version. The outlet says 2019 is the likely production start time, even though we know location scouting has been taking place recently.

In Frank Herbert‘s first “Dune” novel, Paul is 15 when his family moves from their home planet of Caladan to Arrakis, in order to take over the production and mining of the geriatric spice Melange, which can be ingested in order to fold space and time. There is political intrigue, religion, war, and growth within the story, lending to the enduring popularity of the original series of books. Frank’s son Brian Herbert took over writing in the Dune universe, and is serving as a consultant on Villeneuve’s film.

We’re hoping for some additional news to hit this week during San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) as it’s likely Legendary may say something about the production during their Hall H panel.

Hopefully he’ll be prepared to tell me of his homeworld, Usul.