In November 2016, Legendary Entertainment acquired the film and TV rights for "Dune". "Variety" reported in December 2016 that Denis Villeneuve was in negotiations to direct the project, which was confirmed in February 2017. In early 2018, Villeneuve stated that his goal was to adapt the novel into a two-part film series. He said in May 2018 that the first draft of the script had been finished. Villeneuve said, "Most of the main ideas of "Star Wars" are coming from "Dune" so it's going to be a challenge to this. The ambition is to do the "Star Wars" movie I never saw. In a way, it's "Star Wars" for adults." In July 2018, Brian Herbert confirmed that the latest draft of the screenplay covered "approximately half of the novel "Dune"." Timothée Chalamet is to play Paul Atreides. Greig Fraser joined the project as cinematographer in December 2018. In September 2018, it was reported that Rebecca Ferguson was in talks to play Jessica Atreides. In January 2019, Dave Bautista and Stellan Skarsgård joined the production, playing Glossu Rabban and Vladimir Harkonnen, respectively. It was reported later that month that Charlotte Rampling had been cast as Reverend Mother Mohiam, Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto, Zendaya as Chani, and Javier Bardem as Stilgar. In February 2019, Josh Brolin was cast as Gurney Halleck, Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, and David Dastmalchian as Piter De Vries. Filming began March 18, 2019, and the film was shot on location in Budapest, Hungary and Jordan. Warner Bros. will distribute the film, which will be released on October 1, 2021.