Florence Pugh reportedly in talks to play Princess Irulan in Dune: Part Two

From the looks of it, Dune: Part Two is shaping up to be a bit of a Little Women reunion.

Timothée Chalamet is already set to reprise his role as protagonist Paul Atreides, and now Florence Pugh is in talks to join the upcoming sequel as Princess Irulan. According to The Hollywood Reporter, who first reported the news, Pugh is the first newcomer to the cast that will also include Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, and Javier Bardem, among others returning from the first Dune.

Irulan is mentioned on the very first page of the novel Dune (her historical writings from decades in the future of the book's events provide an epigraph for almost every chapter), but was absent from last year's film. Director Denis Villeneuve and his collaborators only adapted the first half of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel in last year's Dune, and Irulan doesn't materialize as an actual character in the plot until towards the climax.

Where Paul hails from the noble House Atreides, Irulan belongs to House Corrino, the royal family that lords over the known universe in a power-sharing arrangement with the Spacing Guild and the legislative body known as the Landsraad. Irulan Corrino is one of the daughters of the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV, who has no sons thanks to the careful planning of the Bene Gesserit. In this capacity, Irulan is actually mentioned indirectly by Chalamet's Paul in the first film when he proposes the possibility of marrying one of the Emperor's daughters as compensation for the Emperor's complicity in the Harkonnen assault on House Atreides. Dr. Liet Kynes (Sharon Duncan Brewster) laughed this off as the empty boast of a powerless exile, but perhaps Paul will present a more formidable challenge to the Emperor now that he's linked up with the Fremen.

Once last year's film succeeded enough at the box office to earn an official green light for Dune: Part Two, fans started dreaming of who might play Irulan. We at EW were partial to theorizing about Chalamet's frequent co-star Saoirse Ronan taking the role, but it seems the powers that be at Warner Bros. and Legendary have their eyes on a different Little Women star instead.

Dune: Part Two is currently aiming for a 2023 release. No word yet on who might be in competition to take on the role of Irulan's father Shaddam IV.

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