in

Love to Oscar, But Not My Duke

It’s another week, and another casting announcement for Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming adaptation of Dune has come to pass.  This time I am not as on board with the casting choice as I was the others. Before millions of fans of Poe Dameron and Llewyn Davis come at me, hold on a minute. I adore Oscar Issac. I think he’s a brilliant actor. Stoic and extremely handsome, but he is not the right choice for Duke Leto Atreides.

In prior versions, the role was played by both Jurgen Prochnow in David Lynch’s and by William Hurt in SyFy’s television mini-series. So you can see what I mean by not following in the vain of a more mature choice to play father to Timothee Chalmet’s Paul. Oscar Issac is going to be 40 years old in March. Not that age has anything to do with it either; I mean an actor’s job is to embody the role in which they are given. This casting just does not feel genuine.

And before I am called out for being a Kyle MacLachlan super fan and just burned that he was not offered the role, I would hope Villeneuve would have at the least considered MacLachlan for the role. Besides a small nod to the original that is still a beloved cult classic, MacLachlan has aged extremely well to the point where he was once the epitome of a Disney Prince he could now pass as a Disney Prince’s father. You see where I am getting at? Not to mention the fact he looks like he could be Chalmet’s father without even trying.

Kyle Paul

Who could I see Isaac playing? He would be a dead-on Duncan Idaho or even a Gurney Halleck. But for Duke Leto, it should have been someone more worldly. Someone aged from experience, not from makeup, and someone who is not already the face of a Sci-Fi franchise.

Regardless of my feelings on this choice, filming begins soon, really soon according to ScreenRant filming begins this February. So I do hope we get a few more casting announcements before they go into production. Who would you like to see in the roles that are left?  Feyd Rautha is one that people are talking about. Who would you like to see take Sting’s role from Lynch’s original? Let us know in the comments.

Written by J.C. Hotchkiss

Leave a Reply

Film Obsessive welcomes your comments. All submissions are moderated. Replies including personal attacks, spam, and other offensive remarks will not be published. Email addresses will not be visible on published comments.

Film25YL: Tim Burton’s Ed Wood

cool world

Cool World