Dune‘s Dave Bautista discusses a deleted scene from the first film. Bautista plays Glossu Rabban in the 2021 adaptation of Dune directed by Denis Villeneuve, and reprises the role for the upcoming sequel Dune: Part Two. As the nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), Rabban is a cruel and brutal individual put in charge on the planet Arrakis, ignorant that he is a pawn in the Baron’s larger schemes. Rabban also shares history with Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin), who survived the massacre of House Atreides and will also return in Dune: Part Two.
While speaking with Collider, Bautista shared new details about a deleted scene from the first film featuring Rabban and the Harkonnen’s Mentat, Piter De Vries (David Dastmalchian). With Villeneuve recently explaining that he will never release any of Dune‘s deleted scenes, the scene between Bautista and Dastmalchian will never be seen. Read Bautista’s comments below:
It’s just, right now I’m thinking, “God, is he [Villeneuve] gonna be mad at me if I say?” But no, it’s nothing major. It’s not giving away anything, but I had a scene in the first film with Dave Dastmalchian where I was just intimidating his character, and it was very subtle, but I wanted that for selfish reasons because I love Dave so much. I guess it just didn’t fit in or there wasn’t room or pacing issues. Those decisions are way over my head. But yeah, I was disappointed that I didn’t make the cut.
Why It Was Right To Delete This Scene From Dune: Part One
In the Dune book by Frank Herbert, Piter is shown to be a deeply conniving, sadistic, and influential individual with more of a voice in the Harkonnen court. The Baron expresses his displeasure to Piter at him being more than an obedient Mentat, and the Baron even realizes that he may need to kill Piter, though this ultimately proves unnecessary as Piter dies when Duke Leto Atreides takes his own life and attempts to assassinate the Baron as well with poison.
Every Major Character Death In Dune, Explained
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While Dastmalchian certainly looks and acts the part of the unsettling Piter, the 2021 film mostly reduces the Mentat to a silent and obedient assistant to the Baron. Piter doesn’t even get to kill Dr. Wellington Yueh (Chang Chen) as he does in the novel, with the Baron killing Yueh instead. The deleted scene that Bautista describes in which Rabban intimidates Piter would only have reinforced the inaccurate depiction of Piter as a meek and subservient Mentat.
Rabban’s scenes in Dune sufficiently show his physical prowess and domineering, cruel personality, meaning this scene wouldn’t have further developed Rabban in any meaningful way. Piter is now dead, but Dune: Part Two will continue Rabban’s story as the Harkonnens are threatened by Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and the Fremen. The adaptation has the opportunity to enhance Rabban’s story through an epic rematch with Gurney, a change that would elevate Rabban’s fate in the source material.
Dune
Dune the big-screen adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal bestseller of the same name. A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.
- Director
- Denis Villeneuve
- Release Date
- October 22, 2021
- Studio(s)
- Legendary Pictures
- Distributor(s)
- Warner Bros. Pictures
- Writers
- Frank Herbert , Eric Roth , Denis Villeneuve , Jon Spaihts
- Cast
- Dave Bautista , Rebecca Ferguson , Sharon Duncan-Brewster , Jason Momoa , David Dastmalchian , Stephen McKinley Henderson , Stellan Skarsgård , Charlotte Rampling , Chang Chen , Oscar Isaac , Zendaya , Javier Bardem , Timothee Chalamet , Josh Brolin
- Runtime
- 155 minutes
