It’s going to be a pretty big year for Dave Bautista’s acting chops. The 2023's movie release schedule is already seeing his return to the screen in February's much-hyped Knock at the Cabin. At the same time, the future’s looking pretty bright, as Bautista is hyping his return in Dune: Part Two’s all-star cast via promises of “cutthroat” and “weird” happenings in the Denis Villeneuve-directed sequel.
As you can see in the interview clip above, the man’s face practically lit up upon the mention of Dune’s next chapter. Sitting down with Dave Bautista at the press junket for M. Night Shyamalan’s latest thriller with Universal, I couldn’t resist asking the question of how hyped I should be for the continued battle over Arakkis between the Harkonnens and the Atreides. Releasing his inner fanboy, here’s what Bautista told CinemaBlend:
Super hyped, like be hyped. And that’s speaking from fan to fan. I went and even watched some of the stuff that I wasn’t involved in, because I’m just a fan and I just want to know how this film is gonna be. And it’s so good, man. It’s so good. It’s like the first film was just a set up, and this is when shit goes down. … It gets weird, it’s political, and it’s cutthroat. It’s really great.
Let’s face the facts: Dune was an amazing adaptation for half of Frank Herbert’s book of the same name. However, even die-hard loyalists probably pondered why it didn’t go as weird as it could have. (Honestly, the first book gets pretty bonkers.)
Acting as a lure for the experienced and newcomers who are now on board to see Paul Atreides’ (Timothée Chalamet) life journey, my best guess is that Denis Villeneuve wanted to nail down the more grounded elements before really taking off into flights of fancy. With that in mind, Dave Bautista’s hype for Dune: Part Two and the trailer only gets me more excited for what's next, as his own personal fandom of the property has approved of how the “shit goes down” in this upcoming blockbuster.
From an acting viewpoint, it’s also easy to see how the role of Beast Rabban Harkonnen continues to fuel the Guardians of the Galaxy star’s quest to do new and exciting things with his skills. Especially when Dave Bautista considers Rabban a blessing when trying to achieve such heights. Though if things are about to get cutthroat in Dune: Part Two, then this clip from the previous film suggests that Mr. Bautista is going to be a blazing furnace of anger in the next half:
Even comparing his role in Dune to his part in Knock at the Cabin is a good example of why this hype is earned. In a way different in its antagonistic approach, Bautista is absolutely killing it in his acting career with a more soft-spoken, but still imposing figure.
Now the gloves are off (so to speak), we can expect Dave Bautista to get cutthroat and weird in allegiance to House Harkonnen. If that prospect didn’t have him fanboying over his Dune experience yet again and/or strike fear into at least one cast member, then perhaps we need to call the professionals.
Dune: Part Two reopens this book of sci-fi mastery on November 3rd, with the first piece of that tale currently streaming for those with an HBO Max subscription. As for Dave Bautista, you’ll be able to see him Knock at the Cabin in theaters this weekend. Judging by the first screening reactions to the new Shyamalan nail-biter, it sounds like you’re going to want to do just that before spoilers start to drip down, and they will.
