As previously established, Timothée Chalamet and Kid Cudi are good friends, and good friends share their toys. Last night (June 5), Kid Cudi showed off a gift he received from Chalamet, in the form of an action figure that depicts the actor’s character in Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming sci-fi epic, Dune.
“To the True Master of the Universe,” Chalamet signs the limited edition action figure’s box. “The moon man… Kid Cudi. With humility, Paul Atreides.”
The Dune cast’s plastic counterparts were first revealed by McFarlane Toys late last year, also including characters depicted on-screen by Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, Javier Bardem, and Dave Bautista (Chani, a character played by Euphoria’s Zendaya, was notably absent).
Chalamet has previously shared an image of the toy to his Instagram, playfully captioned: “I’ve been playing with myself all day.”
The film itself — which is based on the eponymous 1965 novel by Frank Herbet — was originally set to be released in November 2020, but has been pushed back several times due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to Deadline, it’s currently scheduled to premiere at Venice Film Festival in September.
Plans for an October 2021 Dune release, which would see it hit cinemas and stream on HBO Max simultaneously, have drawn strong criticism from the film’s producers, who have threatened legal action against distributor Warner Bros. Director Denis Villeneuve has also spoken out against the simultaneous release.
“Streaming can produce great content, but not movies of Dune’s scope and scale,” wrote the Blade Runner 2049 filmmaker in an article last December. “(This) decision means Dune won’t have the chance to perform financially in order to be viable and piracy will ultimately triumph. Warner Brothers might just have killed the Dune franchise.”
Chalamet has appeared alongside Kid Cudi several times over the last couple of years, performing onstage with the musician back in 2019, and passing behind him for a very brief cameo in Luca Guadagnino’s We Are Who We Are. In April this year, he also popped up playing a weird little flute during Cudi’s musical SNL sketch.
Take a look at Kid Cudi’s Timothée Chalamet action figure below, and revisit Dazed’s list of the worst and most cursed attempts to adapt Dune for the big screen here.