With Dune: Part One in the home stretch of its award-season campaign, Warner Bros and Legendary’s Dune: Part Two is ramping up its pre-production efforts, with sources telling Deadline that Florence Pugh is in negotiations to join the cast. While not confirmed, sources say she will play Princess Irulan Corrino, the eldest daughter to Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV. She would join returning cast members that include Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya and Josh Brolin, with director, producer and co-screenwriter Denis Villeneuve also returning.

Legendary had no comment. Production on the film is expected to start in the fall, with the film set to bow on October 20, 2023.

Even with Dune: Part One going day-and-date on HBO Max, the film was still able to thrive in theaters with an opening weekend of $41 million, which exceeded expectations and led to a quick greenlight for a sequel weeks later. The film has grossed $400 million at the worldwide box office to date including $108 million domestically. It also recently racked up nine Oscar nominations including for Best Picture.

As for Pugh, the Oscar-nominated actress is coming off a big year that included her introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Black Widow, where she played Natasha Romanoff’s sister, Yelena. She would reprise the role of Yelena in Marvel’s Hawkeye series and the character has quickly become a favorite among MCU fans.

She is currently filming Christopher Nolan’s anticipated Oppenheimer, which also stars Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon and Robert Downey Jr., and recently finished the Netflix pic The Wonder. She is repped by CAA, Brillstein Entertainment and Curtis Brown.

EXCLUSIVE: Elvis star Austin Butler is in negotiations to play Feyd-Rautha in Warner Bros and Legendary’s Dune: Part Two. Florence Pugh is also in negotiations to join the all-star ensemble with Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya and Josh Brolin expected to reprise their roles. Director, producer and co-screenwriter Denis Villeneuve is also returning.

Legendary had no comment. Production on the film is expected to start in the fall, with the film set to bow on October 20, 2023.

In the last line of Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune,” Zendaya’s character says, “This is only the beginning.” She might as well have been talking about the “Dune” franchise itself. Villeneuve is currently in pre-production on “Dune: Part 2,” which is expected to begin filming in late summer, and a television series centered on the Bene Gesserit is already in development. Jon Spaihts, who is an Oscar nominee this year for co-writing “Dune” with Villeneuve and Eric Roth, hinted to The Playlist this week that the franchise probably won’t stop there as he’s been hired to “investigate other cinematic prospects in the ‘Dune’ universe.”

Spaihts was originally set to serve as showrunner of the aforementioned HBO Max television series, officially titled “Dune: The Sisterhood,” but he dropped out of the project in November 2019 so he could focus solely on writing “Dune: Part 2.” But that’s not at all Spaihts was tasked with by WarnerMedia.

“[The television show] is carrying on and I’m not allowed to talk about it very much. But that effort is alive and well,” Spaihts told The Playlist. “I ended up getting moved off of it to work, not just on ‘Dune: Part 2,’ but to investigate other cinematic prospects in the ‘Dune’ universe, which we are still talking about and which, again, I’m not allowed to say very much about. But it is a very rich world in which to play, and I think it is ripe with opportunities for storytelling in every direction.”

Considering Spaihts’ comment, it appears WarnerMedia is hoping to expand the “Dune” universe beyond just the projects that have been announced. It’s hardly a surprising reveal given that most major studio franchises these days, from Marvel to “Star Wars” and the DCEU, exist across various film and streaming television projects. Villeneuve has already gone on record expressing interest in making a third “Dune” movie based on Frank Herbert’s sequel novel “Dune Messiah.”

“There is ‘Dune’s’ second book, ‘The Messiah of Dune,’ which could make an extraordinary film,” Villeneuve told CBC Radio Canada last August. “I always saw that there could be a trilogy; after that, we’ll see. It’s years of work; I can’t think of going further than that.”

Spaihts doubled down on the potential for a third “Dune” movie, telling The Playlist, “Denis has talked seriously about making [‘Dune Messiah’] as well, as a conclusion of the trilogy. ‘Dune Messiah’ is a very interesting book, which in some ways, deconstructs ‘Dune’ and plays as a cautionary tale, even more than Dune does, about the dangers of blending religion and politics, the hazards of following charismatic leaders and the dangerous struggle that’s always alive between the individual and institutions.”

When asked if “Dune: Part 2” might lay the groundwork with hints at what’s to come in a potential third movie, Spaihts answered, “I think that’s right. There are a few tantalizing strands that lead into the future and suggest that we might not be done in this universe, despite the fact that the ending of ‘Dune’ as a novel, which will be the ending of the second film, is a very satisfying conclusion.”

“Dune” is now available to stream on HBO Max. “Dune: Part 2” is set for release from Warner Bros. on October 23, 2023.

The emperor of the universe has been found.

Christopher Walken has nabbed the plum role of Emperor Shaddam IV in Dune: Part Two, the all-star continuation to Denis Villeneuve’s Oscar-winning adaptation of the Frank Herbert science fiction classic.

Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson and Javier Bardem, among others, are returning for the Legendary feature, with Florence Pugh and Austin Butler among the newcomers.

The story resumes where the first one left off, with Paul Atreides (Chalamet) fighting alongside the Fremen to free the desert planet of Arrakis from the grips of House Harkonnen.

Walken will play the ruler of the known universe who initially sends the Atreides family to Arrakis in order to cause their downfall. In the continuation, he and the baron terrorize the populace and must content with the rebellion. Jose Ferrer played the part in the 1984 movie adaptation by David Lynch.

Pugh is playing Princess Irulan, the daughter of the emperor, while Butler is Feyd-Rautha, the cunning nephew of the baron who heads House Harkonnen and who is being groomed to rule Arrakis.

Shooting is set to begin this summer in Budapest with Villeneuve in the director’s seat. He also co-wrote the script with Jon Spaihts.

The project is being produced by Mary Parent, Villeneuve, Cale Boyter and Tanya Lapointe.

Executive producing are Josh Grode, David Valdes, Herbert W. Gains, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Thomas Tull, Jon Spaihts, Richard P. Rubinstein and John Harrison. Kevin J. Anderson, the author who co-wrote many Dune books with Brian Herbert after Frank Herbert’s death, is serving as creative consultant.

Dune grossed $400.6 million at the worldwide box office when it was released by Warner Bros. in September and October 2021. It also netted 10 Academy Award nominations, including for best picture, and won six Oscars.

The House of Atreides has gained an ally.

Léa Seydoux has joined “Dune Part Two” in the critical role of Lady Margot, a vital ally to Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) in his war with the House of Harkonnen.

Director Denis Villenueve is set to start filming on the sequel to “Dune” later this year, with Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Stellan Skarsgard and Dave Bautista set to reprise their roles. They will be joined by new actors Austin Butler (as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, heir to the House of Harkonnen), Christopher Walken (as Emperor Shaddam IV) and Florence Pugh (as the Emperor’s daughter, Princess Irulan).

Villenueve is co-writing the screenplay with Jon Spaihts. Villeneuve, Mary Parent, Cale Boyter and Tanya Lapointe are producing, and Josh Grode, David Valdes, Herbert W. Gains, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Thomas Tull, Spaihts, Richard P. Rubinstein and John Harrison are executive producing.

“Dune: Part Two,” the second chapter in the sci-fi epic, has been postponed and will now open in theaters on Nov. 17, 2023 instead of Oct. 20, 2023.