Austin Butler Has Begun Knife Training For Dune 2, But When Will He Begin Speedo Training?
As you may have heard, Austin Butler, the star of the upcoming Baz Luhrmann film "Elvis," has been cast as Feyd-Rautha in Denis Villeneuve's "Dune: Part Two." According to The New York Times (via ScreenRant), Butler has begun knife training for the role of Feyd-Rautha, a role which was played by Sting in the David Lynch film back in 1984. If you aren't familiar with that wild ride of a film or with the Frank Herbert novels the movies are based on, Feyd-Rautha is the nephew of Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård). Villeneuve is splitting the first novel into two parts, with Feyd-Rautha appearing in the upcoming film.
If you've seen the 1984 version of the story, you know there is a big knife fight between the story's protagonist, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and Feyd-Rautha, but you may have forgotten it because you were too distracted by the speedo that Sting is wearing. This is understandable. It is rather ... I was going to write "spectacular," but I think the word I'm really looking for is "perplexing." Or maybe "uncomfortable" — maybe not literally uncomfortable for him on the set, but uncomfortable for anyone watching. Let me refresh your memory.
That specific speedo looks like it might take as much training as knife fighting
I don't know if there is a back to that thing, or if it was glued on. I probably blocked it from my memory. Don't get me wrong: Sting was — and is — a very attractive person, but that ... hood ornament-looking pair of underpants not only seems like it would be uncomfortable, but it defies gravity. Perhaps Butler should start training to wear that?
There is a big knife fight that will likely be happening in "Dune: Part Two," as there is in the Lynch film and the book, and there was already a knife fight with Paul in "Dune: Part One," so blade-to-blade battles are a big part of the story. Fans may have wanted Barry Keoghan for the role of Feyd-Rautha, but that "Elvis" trailer and Butler's turn as Tex in "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" prove Butler has the acting chops. Can he pull this off? I mean, keep it on? (There is absolutely no official word about whether or not this version of Feyd-Rautha will wear a speedo, but one never knows.)
Butler (and maybe his speedo) will join Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh, Josh Brolin, Christopher Walken, Stellen Skarsgård, Javier Bardem, and Rebecca Ferguson in the cast of the upcoming film.
"Dune: Part Two" is set to release in theaters October 20, 2023.