‘Crouching Tiger’ actor joins Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ reboot
‘CROUCHING Tiger’ actor Chang Chen has joined the cast of the ‘Dune’ reboot.
The 42-year-old Taiwanese actor is set to portray physician Dr. Yueh, who serves the Atreides family, in Denis Villeneuve’s take on the sci-fi literary classic.
Chen and the legendary filmmaker were both on the jury at the Cannes Film Festival last summer.
Chen rose to prominence with 2000’s ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ in which he played the desert bandit Dark Cloud for filmmaker Ang Lee.
In recent years, he starred in Hou Hsiao-hsien’s ‘The Assassin’, which took home the best director’s prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015, and he also appeared in the 2017 martial arts film ‘Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield’, the 2017 drama ‘Mr. Long’ and 2018’s ‘Forever Young’.
Chen is joining a cast that in addition to Chalamet, includes Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa and Javier Bardem.
‘Dune’ tells the complex story of a fallen noble family’s attempt to control a desert planet named Arrakis and its export, a rare drug called melange - also known as “the spice” - which is vital to space travel and the most sought after commodity in the universe.
The project is being created by Legendary Entertainment, and Villeneuve will produce alongside Mary Parent and Cale Boyter.
Villeneuve also wrote the script for the flick with the help of Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts.
Legendary acquired the film and TV rights in 2016 after signing a deal with Herbert’s estate for his iconic tome.
Villeneuve previously admitted ‘Dune’ has always been his “dream project” as he was obsessed with the original film growing up.
Filming is due to commence in Budapest and Jordan in spring and the film is set to be released next year.