LOS ANGELES, Feb 15 — The latest name to join a stellar cast for Denis Villeneuve’s epic sci-fi remake Dune appears to be Jason Momoa of Aquaman, Game of Thrones and Stargate Atlantis.

Should negotiations successfully conclude, Jason Momoa will be joining Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac and Dave Bautista in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune.

Based on the classic 1965 Frank Herbert novel, Dune tells the story of two rich, rival families and the rise of young Paul Atreides (Chalamet.)

Momoa would play the Atreides’ loyal bodyguard Duncan Idaho. Though this Dune film project has been proposed as a two-parter, there is franchise potential both in general and for the Idaho character, who became a mainstay of the Dune saga.

The original epic spawned five more novels and a short story from Herbert himself, with his son Brian then co-authoring another two dozen novels and shorts.

It influenced George Lucas’s Star Wars franchise, and film auteur David Lynch, who at one point had the opportunity to direct trilogy closer Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, later helmed a 1984 interpretation of Herbert’s iconic work.

Villeneuve comes to Dune having received the Best Director Oscar for alien contact movie Arrival, and then directing the sequel to a sci-fi cyberpunk classic in 2017’s Blade Runner 2049.

Legendary Entertainment is yet to announce a projected release date for Dune.

Cast members also include Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård and Charlotte Rampling. — AFP-Relaxnews