“I’m not afraid to die, but I must not die… yet,” says Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) in the first official trailer of Dune: Part Three. Coming to cinemas worldwide on December 18th, the last installment of Denis Villeneuve’s epic trilogy promises to be as exciting, nerve-wracking, and grandiose as its predecessors, where we’re transported to the spice-covered world of Arrakis. Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Rampling, and Javier Bardem will be joined by other incredible actors like Robert Pattinson, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Jason Momoa, completing a cast that’s fit for a stellar story.
Once in a generation, a director makes a trilogy that changes culture for the better and gifts fans a universe they can picture themselves in. In the past we’ve had Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings; the 2020s belong to Arrakis and the world of Dune, the series of books by author Frank Herbert, first published in the mid-60s, now brought to reality by Denis Villeneuve. And yes, David Lynch did an adaptation that flopped in 1984, and Alejandro Jodorowsky also had the intention of imbuing his own flavour into the story. But it’s the Canadian director who’s finally had the means necessary to bring Arrakis to life in a way that no one else could.
In Dune: Part Three, based on the sequel novel Dune Messiah (1969), the story advances a few years in the future: Paul Atreides is about to have a baby, there’s still an endless war between clans and planets, and interests over territory and goods make political and diplomatic relationships complicated. Just looking at the trailer, it feels like this one will be closer to Dune: Part Two, way more dynamic than the first one, which mostly served to introduce the audience to the universe. So, if you’re already a fan, this looks thrilling; if you still aren’t, just wait a bit and see how you’ll soon join the Lisan al-Gaib tribe.
