Initially due in November 2023, Denis Villeneuve’s next installment within the Oscar-winning “Dune” franchise is obviously not arriving until March 15, 2024. “Dune: Part Two” is expected to wrap up the first adaptation of the Frank Herbert series of sci-fi fantasy novels that inspired things like “Star Wars.” In the second chapter of this saga, Oscar-nominated actor Austin Butler (“Elvis”) plays Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, the violent rival of Paul Atreides. He’s the nephew of Stellan Skarsgård’s Siridar-Baron Vladimir Harkonnen character and brother of Glossu Rabban Harkonnen (Dave Bautista), the House of Harkonnen being part of the brutal muscle flexed by Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV on Arrakis. It’s a role that will ask a lot from Butler physically as he’s one of the most skilled fighters/warriors in the universe of “Dune,” as highlighted in trailer footage with a gladiator ring event, and his duel with Paul will undoubtedly be a big scene to keep an eye out for.

During a back-and-forth interview between Bulter and his co-star Josh Brolin at Interview Magazine, the young actor was quick to give praise to the French-Canadian director, calling him the “greatest filmmaker alive” and dished about his feelings when signing on. Something I’m sure many fans of his body of work would echo themselves.

“Denis is one of the greatest filmmakers alive, so the idea of getting to work with him, and then you and all of the cast was so exciting for me. The thing with Denis is, you’ll give an idea, and then his mind will start to percolate, and then he’ll come back with ten more, and then you’re feeding off of each other’s imaginations.”

Earlier in the exchange, Brolin asked if Butler was nervous taking on such a large project as “Dune.” Given that Bulter had been doing primarily character-focused projects like his Oscar-nominated performance in “Elvis.”

“I’m always nervous. I always feel an incredible pressure,” he admitted. “I felt that when I was 12 years old. Even if the material doesn’t really require it, I feel I need to do the best that I possibly can. That sets a bar, and then I’m always afraid that I’m going to miss something. With [‘Dune: Part Two’], it was interesting because I met with Denis [Villeneuve], and we got along very well and started talking about the character. At that point, we didn’t even have a script, but as we started talking about Feyd, my imagination started running, and I started to feel the terror of the challenge. That’s what I’m guided by now: ‘What really scares me?’”

Villeneuve is also executive-producing the HBO Max series “Dune: The Sisterhood” and already has teased early development on a third feature film that is expected to be a direct adaptation of the second Herbert novel, “Dune Messiah,” to round out a trilogy of movies for Legendary/Warner Bros. A third ‘Dune’ would likely be where the filmmaker taps out to move on to other projects. However, the likelihood of ‘Messiah’ moving forward into production will rely on audiences’ support of the sequel and more vital box office than the first installment.

‘Dune: Part Two’ Star Austin Butler Calls Denis Villeneuve “One Of The Greatest Filmmakers Alive”