Robert Pattinson Thinks Zendaya Had 'Something to Do with' Him Being Cast in “Dune: Part Three”
Robert Pattinson Thinks Zendaya Had 'Something to Do with' Him Being Cast in “Dune: Part Three”
Jack Smart, Scott HuverTue, March 17, 2026 at 6:42 PM UTC
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Robert Pattinson and Zendaya at the 98th Academy Awards on March 15Credit: Richard Harbaugh / The Academy via Getty -
Dune: Part Three, from writer-director Denis Villeneuve, is in theaters Dec. 18
Robert Pattinson, a newcomer to the franchise, joined Villeneuve and stars Zendaya, Javier Bardem and Anya Taylor-Joy at a trailer reveal event in Los Angeles on March 16
Pattinson quipped that it was Zendaya, his costar also in upcoming film The Drama, had “something to do with” his being cast in Dune: Part Three
Zendaya may have helped usher Robert Pattinson into the Dune-iverse.
When the Dune: Part Three costars joined writer-director Denis Villeneuve on Monday, March 16 in Los Angeles to tease and reveal the trailer for the sci-fi sequel (in theaters Dec. 18), they hinted that Zendaya got Pattinson his role as new character Scytale.
“I absolutely adored these movies,” said Pattinson, 39, of 2021’s Dune and 2024’s Dune: Part Two. “I saw them multiple times in the theaters.”
Chatting with Zendaya, 29, on the set of their other movie The Drama (in theaters April 3), the British star recalled asking her, “‘Can I get in one of those Dune movies?’”
“I know a guy,” quipped the Euphoria Emmy winner.
(Left-right:) Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Denis Villeneuve, Anya Taylor-Joy and and Javier Bardem at the Warner Bros. Pictures trailer launch event of 'Dune: Part Three' on March 16Credit: Jay L. Clendenin/Shutterstock/Courtesy of Warner Bros. Picutres
“It was a very unexpected call a few months later,” said the Twilight alum, adding to Zendaya, “I kind of did think you [had] something to do with it!”
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Dune: Part Three, which Villeneuve has said is the conclusion to his adaptations of Frank Herbert’s beloved novels, will again feature Timothée Chalamet as Arrakis leader Paul Atreides and Zendaya as his lover, the Fremen warrior Chani.
Pattinson joins the returning Rebecca Ferguson, Florence Pugh, Anya Taylor-Joy, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and — spoiler alert! — Jason Momoa. Villeneuve co-wrote the script with Brian K. Vaughan, adapting Herbert's 1969 installment Dune Messiah.
'Dune 3'Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
“The cast is so incredible,” said Pattinson at the trailer reveal event alongside Zendaya, Taylor-Joy, Bardem and Villeneuve. “Everybody wants to work with Denis. I mean, he's a master. And when you see the scope and scale and ambition of these movies on set, you get why they feel like this on the screen.”
Asked for details on his mysterious role, Pattinson reflected on the “unusual character” in the novel. “You can't really tell whose side he's on [which] is what makes him quite interesting. And I wouldn't say he was a conventional bad guy as such. I don't think he is. He might even be a good guy. Who knows? I will also find out when I see the movie.”
His look as the platinum-blond Scytale, added the actor, “is quite… extraordinary.”
Chalamet, 30, also sent a video message to the event introducing the trailer reveal. "After two impactful films with an in-development process that started in the [mid-2010s], a production process that started in 2018 and over 150 production days across the three films at large, today we are debuting the trailer to Dune: Part Three," the Oscar nominee said. "This film would not exist without the master of cinema, the great artist that is Denis Villeneuve."
Dune: Part Three hits theaters on Dec. 18. It’s one of three movies Pattinson and Zendaya star in together this year, with Kristoffer Borgli's The Drama in theaters April 3 and Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey in theaters July 17.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
