Christopher Walken will play the main villain in Dune 2

Christopher Walken has been invited to star in the sequel to Denis Villeneuve's acclaimed sci-fi saga "Dune" (2021). He will appear on the screen a negative character, playing a key role in the story. Namely, Emperor Shaddam IV.

The 79-year-old Walken, who recently starred in the sci-fi series "Divided" and "Intruders," will add even more weight to the already very good cast of the sequel. Joining the Hollywood maestro on the set will be Timothy Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin. Marvel star Florence Pugh will play one of Emperor Shaddam's daughters, Princess Irulan. She will be joined on screen by Austin Butler ("Elvis") and Stellan Skarsgard ("Dogville"). They will appear as Fade-Route Harkonnen and Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, respectively.

The main filming of Dune 2 is expected to begin in July and is scheduled to premiere in October 2023. The decision to start production soon led Villeneuve and casting director Francine Maisler to quickly decide on the actors for the main roles.

As for Emperor Shaddam IV, he is the head of House Corrino in the universe of Frank Herbert's novel, on which the plot of "Dune" and its sequel are based. The 81st ruler of the galactic empire is behind most of the events taking place in the universe. He deftly manipulates numerous Houses, including the Atreides and the Harkonnens.

Shaddam IV was not present in the first Dune movie. And this, according to the director, was justified by his desire to maintain intrigue in the development of the action before the sequel began. In the second film, the audience will see the Emperor at once in all the glory of his power. According to the plot, he will unite with House Harkonnen to attempt the destruction of House Atreides, as he sees it as a threat to his dominion in the universe. The two houses will make a military effort to attack Atreides on Arrakis, where the rare and superpowered spice called mélange is mined.

In the first film, Denis Villeneuve focused on working out the universe - the peoples and planets. Whereas the sequel will focus more on the confrontation within the universe. "There will be some new characters in the second part. Even in the very early stages, I decided that the first part would be more about Paul Atreides and Ben Gesserit and his first experience with another culture. The second part will focus much more on the Harkonnenes," the director explained. It is also known that more screen time than in "Dune", will get in the continuation of the character Zendei - Chani.

As previously reported, Villeneuve, along with co-writers Eric Roth and John Spates allowed creative liberties when writing the "Dune" script. And it is possible that the second part may also differ to some extent from the plot set out by Herbert.