Dune Star Replacing Johnny Depp In Pirates Reboot?

Austin Butler wowed audiences as the fierce and villainous Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two earlier this year and had his break-out role just two years ago in the Elvis biopic as the titular rock n roll singer.

The role earned Butler a Best Actor Oscar nom and he has been on a hot streak ever since. However, Butler’s roles have been one-and-done movies, so signing on to a major franchise like Pirates of the Caribbean would likely tie him up for quite some time.

The DisInsider also reported that the live-action Hercules film was on the table for Austin Butler at some point, but that Disney specifically wants him for the new Pirates of the Caribbean. If Butler doesn’t want to get tangled up in a potentially decade-plus role, then we could see the Hercules deal work out instead.

Butler has shown his chops both as an action star and as a capable singer, so playing a live-action version of the Disney Hercules movie would actually be a pretty good fit.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has recently shed a lot of light on the future of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise since Disney hasn’t officially confirmed much. One thing he confirmed is that the Margot Robbie-led Pirates project isn’t “officially dead” and that another spin-off film with a younger cast took priority.

Earlier rumors this year also indicated that Ayo Edebiri was being considered for the lead in a new female-led Pirates movie, so it’s possible that Austin Butler could have a role in either of these planned Pirates of the Caribbean films.

If Margot Robbie is leading one film and if the Ayo Edebiri casting turns out to be true, then it’s likely that Austin Butler might play more of a supporting lead role like Orlando Bloom did in the original Pirates of the Caribbean films.

Of course, Butler also proved that he’s more than capable of playing a fearsome villain in Dune: Part Two, so perhaps Disney is considering him for the villain role in the film. It’s hard to imagine they would turn him into a CGI creature like Davy Jones, but it would be cool to see him take on a different kind of supernatural villain role.

For now, we’ll just have to wait and see if Austin Butler decides to sign on for either of the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean projects. In the meantime, you can catch Butler’s next performance in the film The Bikeriders next month. The movie follows a Midwestern motorcycle club and is set to hit theaters on June 21.

Source: DisInsider