Dream cast for "Dune"

[Raguleader]

Popping in to throw in my 2 cents: How about Danny Trejo as Stilgar? Any reason that wouldn’t work?

[Tapioca_Dextrin]

Duke Leto Atreides – Johnny Depp

Lady Jessica – Johnny Depp

Paul Atreides – Johnny Depp

Alia Atreides – Johnny Depp

Baron Vladimir Harkonnen – Johnny Depp

Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen – Johnny Depp

Gaius Helen Mohiam – Johnny Depp

It might just work!

[Irishman]

kelly5078 said:

A few of the performances in Lynch’s version kind of suck, especially Everett McGill’s and Jurgen Prochnow’s. And, of course, the reimagining of the Harkonnens takes a bit of getting used to. But overall I think it was cast superbly.

I don’t recall those being a problem. If you want a miscast, try the miniseries version with John Hurt as Duke Leto. John Hurt! This guy is so drab that the scene were Duke Leto is supposed to be furious that the Harkonnen’s tried to kill Paul is completely unbelievable. He does not convey anger at all.

(As an aside, I was completely shocked by his role in Hulk 2, not only because he was hard to recognize, but because that role actually had dynamic range I hadn’t seen from John Hurt before.)

SmashTheState said:

Again, I don’t think it’s necessary to mimic the book exactly.

That was the biggest problem with the Lynch version, the failure to mimic the book enough. That, and trying to cram a 700+ (???) page novel into a 2 hour movie.

Argent Towers said:

I am so, so, SO sick of Johnny Depp. All he does anymore is play Johnny Depp. For the past four years or so he’s just been playing Johnny Depp.

Not just the last 4 years.

Lynn Bodoni said:

The whole movie required the viewer to be very, very familiar with Dune (the book) in order to make sense.

This! I watched it the first time not having a clue what was going on. I pieced it together to some extent, but never really felt connected to it.

[Mrs.Cake]

On the other hand, you can never go wrong with an all-muppet cast:

Paul - Kermit
Chani - Miss Piggy
Baron Harkonnen - Fozzie Bear
Thufir Hawat - Bert
Piter DeVries - Ernie
Rev Mother - The Great Gonzo (in drag, of course)
etc

[It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery]

@Mrs.Cake

On the other hand, you can never go wrong with an all-muppet cast:

Paul - Kermit
Chani - Miss Piggy
Baron Harkonnen - Fozzie Bear
Thufir Hawat - Bert

Isn’t a mentat a human computer? So, obviously, Thufir would be the Count!

[Raguleader]

@Tapioca_Dextrin

Duke Leto Atreides – Johnny Depp

Lady Jessica – Johnny Depp

Paul Atreides – Johnny Depp

Alia Atreides – Johnny Depp

Baron Vladimir Harkonnen – Johnny Depp

Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen – Johnny Depp

Gaius Helen Mohiam – Johnny Depp

It might just work!

Have the female characters played by Eddie Murphy, Tyler Perry, and Eddie Izzard.

On second thought, Eddie Izzard is the Baron Harkonnen. He reclaims Arrakis for himself by bringing a flag.

[Rubystreak]

@Raguleader

 Popping in to throw in my 2 cents: How about Danny Trejo as Stilgar? Any reason that wouldn't work? 

Let’s just have an all-Latin cast: Salma Hayek as Jessica, EJ Olmos as Leto, Trejo as Stilgar, Maria Conchita Alonso as Gaius Helen Mohiam, Horatio Sanz as Baron Harkonnen. Why not?

@SmashTheState

I don’t think hair colour need be identical. And Salma Hayek combines exotic beauty with actual acting skills.

Alicia Witt can act and actually resembles the character as described in the book. It’s not that the hair color needs to be identical, it’s that the actor should somewhat resemble the character as described by the author of the book.

Jack Nicholson is an avid Bush-supporter and an arch-conservative. He doesn’t have to act “pure, degenerate evil,” he already IS.

Wow, totally irrelevant to my point, which is that Nicholson in a fat suit would be ridiculous. I couldn’t give less of a damn about his politics.

Again, I don’t think it’s necessary to mimic the book exactly. Dwayne Johnson has the necessary presence to realistically portray the sort of physical menace that Feyd is supposed to have. Anyway, there aren’t many actors who have the sort of Bruce Lee whipcord build you’re talking about.

Sure there are. Dwayne Johnson is totally wrong for Feyd Rautha. He and Paul have a very close fight at the end of the novel, and are pretty evenly matched, physically. Both have a muscular build, and it’s not that hard to find. I don’t think prana bindu training would produce a Dwayne Johnson.

If you have Salma Hayek playing Jessica, she’s dark-skinned enough to make Whoopi Goldberg a realistic possibility.

So you’re suggesting that the child of Jack Nicholson and Whoopi Goldberg would be Salma Hayek? Can I have some of whatever you’re smoking?

[msmith537]

Ok, take this:

Lady Jessica …Angelina Jolie
Piter De Vries…Steve Buscemi
Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV…Jon Voight
Shadout Mapes …some weird old lady
Thufir Hawat …Kevin Dunn
Duncan Idaho …Clive Owen
Paul Atreides …Zack Efron
Princess Irulan …Scarlet Johannson
Reverend Mother Ramallo…Helen Mirren
Stilgar…Bruce Willis
Baron Vladimir Harkonnen …Philip Seymore Hoffman
Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam…Demi Moore
Duke Leto Atreides…Gerard Butler
The Beast Rabban…Jack Black
Gurney Halleck…John Turturro
Feyd Rautha …Robert Pattinson
Doctor Wellington Yueh …Ewan McGregor
Alia …some little girl
Chani…Meghan Fox

Directed by Michael Bay

[Rubystreak]

@msmith537

Ok, take this:

I like it, except Helen Mirren should be Gaius Helen Mohiam, because Demi Moore is not old enough to be Angelina Jolie’s mother. And Alia should be played by some Fanning child. Other than that, excellent casting, Mr. Bay.

[Isamu]

Duke Leto Atreides – Walter Matthau

Lady Jessica – Roseanne Barr

Paul Atreides – Pauly Shore

Alia Atreides – Juliette Lewis (she was BORN to play this role)

Baron Vladimir Harkonnen – Mike Myers

Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen – David Spade

Gaius Helen Mohiam – Nancy Cartwright

[Argent_Towers]

Duke Leto Atreides – Elias Koteas
Lady Jessica – Deborah Kara Unger
Paul Atreides – James Spader
Alia Atreides – Holly Hunter
Baron Vladimir Harkonnen – John David Carson
Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen – Peter MacNeill
Gaius Helen Mohiam – Rosanna Arquette

[ministryman]

@SmashTheState

If you were in charge of casting for a new Dune movie and had as much money as required, whom would you cast in each of the major roles?

Duke Leto Atreides – Sean Connery

Lady Jessica – Charlize Theron

Paul Atreides – Keanu Reeves

Alia Atreides – Miley Cyrus

Baron Vladimir Harkonnen – Charles Durning

Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen – Bruce Dern

Gaius Helen Mohiam – Gates McFadden

[ministryman]

@Rubystreak

I’m sorry, I think most of the OP’s choices are far out in left field. I have to think they must be a joke, or a whoosh, or something. I’ll give him Olmos, because I love the guy. Other than that?

Salma Hayek as Jessica? No way. Jessica is a redhead. I picture someone like Alicia Witt. She’s 34, so in the first Dune book, she could be old enough to have a 15 year old son. She’s also beautiful and projects an air of intelligence.

Vladimir Harkonnen played by Jack Nicholson? Again, no way. Too campy, not enough real, degenerate evil. He’s also supposed to be grossly obese, and I can’t imagine Nicholson in a fat suit being very effective.

Dwayne Johnson as Feyd Rautha? He’s supposed to be slinky and lithe, not buff and hulking. He was played by Sting in the Lynch movie, one of the only things about that movie that was sound IMO.

You do realize that Gaius Helen Mohiam is Jessica’s biological mother, so there’s no way she could be credibly played by Whoopi Goldberg. Helen Mirren, playing Alicia Witt’s mother, now that I could see.

Your choice of Alicia Witt for Jessia would be funny, as she was already in the original Dune movie as Alia (sp?)