WWE Legend Batista Featured in New Trailer for ‘Dune’ Movie | Bleacher Report

Actor Dave Bautista, known as “The
Animal” Batista during his WWE career, was featured as the
character Glossu “Beast” Rabban in a trailer for the movie Dune that released on Thursday.

Bautista is part of a star-studded cast
that features Zendaya, Timothee Chalamet, Josh Brolin, Javier
Bardem, Oscar Isaac and Rebecca Ferguson, among others.

Dune, which is an adaptation of the
1965 science-fiction novel of the same name by Frank Herbert, is a futuristic look at humanity, with Paul Atreides (Chalamet) and Duke
Leto Atreides (Isaac) as the main characters.

In May, Bautista told Collider’s Vinnie
Mancuso he was “blown away” when he read the movie’s script and
thinks his performance in the film, which is directed by Denis
Villeneuve, will “have people looking at me differently”:

“We tracked that movie for months
because I wanted to be a part of it so bad. I never reached out,
because I don’t want to be that guy, like ‘Hey, Denis, is there a
part for me?’ I never wanted to be that guy. But he actually called
me, he didn’t say anything like ‘so there’s this part…’ He just
straight up asked me if I would come and play this part. I was so
taken aback I didn’t even know what to say, except for, obviously,
‘yes.’

“Moments like that really gauge how
far I’ve come, as an actor. There’s a lot of pride in it for me
that a director like Denis would call like that and offer me a role
in a film that I know is going to be enormous. Because people have
been waiting for this for years and years and years. And people are
so passionate about the novels. So for him to offer me such an
integral part of this film, for me, it was a personal statement. I
can’t purchase that type of emotion, that sense of pride. These are
the few moments in life where I get that, where I feel like my life
is worth something, I did something with my life. My life means
something.”

It’s the latest headline role for the
52-year-old former WWE Superstar, who starred in movies like Blade
Runner 2049 and Army of the Dead, and he also played the character Drax the
Destroyer in several Marvel films.

Bautista announced his retirement from
WWE in 2019.

He was scheduled to enter the WWE Hall
of Fame as part of its 2020 class, but the ceremony was postponed
because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a scheduling conflict prevented
him from making the 2021 induction, so he’ll be honored at a future
event.

Dune is set for an Oct. 22 theatrical release in
the United States.