Dune: Messiah casts Jason Momoa's son Nakoa-Wolf Momoa as Leto Atreides II

Perth Now

18 hours ago

Nakoa-Wolf Momoa has been cast in Dune: Messiah.
The 16-year-old actor - who is the son of Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet - is set to appear alongside Ida Brooke as Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) and Chani's (Zendaya) twins Leto II and Ghanima, Deadline has said.
Dune: Messiah will mark Nakoa-Wolf's cinematic debut and will see him appear on-screen with his father - who will be playing Duncan Idaho - while Brooke has been seen in Apple's sci-fi drama Silo and the 2024 BBC series The Primrose Railway Children.
Dune: Messiah - which will be directed by Denis Villeneuve - will be based on author Frank Herbert's 1969 novel of the same name, and will follow Paul Atreides (Chalamet) 12 years into his rule as Emperor of the Known Universe while his reign is engulfed with political conspiracies and moral dilemmas.
As prophecy collides with power, Paul must confront the cost of becoming a messiah.
Dune: Messiah will see the return of Florence Pugh's Princess Irulan, Rebecca Ferguson's Lady Jessica, Javier Bardem's Stilgar, and Josh Brolin's Gurney Halleck.
Robert Pattinson is also said to be in the running for the antagonist role of Scytale - a Face Dancer and secret agent of the Bene Tleilax who plays a central role in Dune: Messiah as part of a conspiracy to overthrow Paul Atreides.
The film is set to start shooting this summer, and is expected to hit screens in December 2026.
Jason Momoa recently confirmed he is due to come back for Dune: Messiah as Duncan Idaho, who is resurrected as a ghola - a genetically engineered clone that plays a critical role in a conspiracy against Paul Atreides.
Speaking on the Today show about his involvement in Dune: Messiah, he said: 'Well, I'm not sure if I'm going to get in trouble or not. But it's the same thing like Game of Thrones, you know what I mean? If you didn't read the books, it's not my fault, right?
'I'm making a comeback. You got me in trouble!'
Villeneuve said he felt 'inspired' to make another Dune movie after he took a break from the franchise following Dune: Part Two, which released in March 2024.
Speaking to TheWrap, the director said: 'When I saw Part Two finished, finally, I realised that that was it. I'd done it. I'd done an adaptation of Dune. And that is something that is an incredible privilege. I'm very grateful to have the chance to have done it.
'I think my biggest surprise about this is that I don't want to run away from Arrakis. I'm still inspired to go back. That's the thing that I was the most surprised by.'
The Blade Runner 2049 filmmaker had initially planned to tackle other projects before revisiting the Dune series for Messiah, though found the pull of completing the trilogy too much to resist.
He continued: 'I felt that after Part Two, I would need a break. I thought that I would want to go write a few films or do a couple of things before going back to Dune: Messiah.
'But the images that kept coming back to my mind, the appetite is absolutely intact. That's the biggest surprise. I still want to go back to Arrakis.'