Before he heads back to Gotham City, it sounds like Robert Pattinson might be heading to Arrakis!
According to Deadline, Pattinson (The Batman; Mickey 17; Tenet) is being eyed for the primary antagonist role in Dune: Messiah, the third and final installment of director Denis Villeneuve's acclaimed Dune trilogy.
No formal offer has been presented to Pattinson's team just yet as both sides will likely have to first figure out his busy shooting schedule, since he's already scheduled to film both Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey and Matt Reeves' long-awaited The Batman Part II later this year.
If a deal closes, it's expected that Pattinson will portray the film's lead villain, Scytale.
In the novel Dune Messiah, Scytale is a Face Dancer - a shape-shifting operative - of the Bene Tleilax, a secretive and morally ambiguous faction known for genetic manipulation and subterfuge. He leads a conspiracy against Paul Atreides, with a group of like-minded individuals, whose ultimate goal is to undermine and/or control Paul, fearing his prescience, political dominance, and the religious jihad spreading in his name.
The expected returning cast will feature Academy Award-nominee Timothée Chalamet ("Paul Atreides"), Zendaya ("Chani"), Florence Pugh ("Princess Irulan"), Anya Taylor-Joy ("Alia Atreides"), and Jason Momoa ("Duncan Idaho").
With casting underway, we should be getting word on a number of key roles in the coming weeks, especially with filming set to begin this summer.
Dune and Dune: Part Two were both roaring successes, both critically and commercially. The first film opened in the wake of the pandemic and grossed over $410.68 million on an estimated $165 million production budget, while the 2024 sequel was one of the biggest films of the year, grossing over $714.7 million on an estimated $190 million production budget.
Both films received Academy Award nominations for Best Motion Picture of the Year, although neither took home the award. However, they still had good nights, with Dune winning five Oscars (from ten nominations), and the sequel winning two Oscars (from five nominations).
Pattinson has been a busy man this past year, having recently wrapped Kristoffer Borgli's The Drama opposite Zendaya, Lance Oppenheim's Primetime, and Lynne Ramsay's Die, My Love with Jennifer Lawrence.
He's also slated to return as Bruce Wayne/Batman in Matt Reeves' The Batman Part II, which is due in theaters October 1, 2027, and Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, which is currently filming. While his role hasn't been confirmed, it was recently reported that Pattinson may be playing Hermes.