The first “Dune 3” trailer is here, and it is epic.
Denis Villeneuve returns to close out his “Dune” trilogy with “Dune: Part Three,” which is based on Frank Herbert’s novel “Dune: Messiah” after the first two “Dune” movies adapted the first book in Herberg’s sci-fi series.
Timothée Chalamet returns as Paul Atreides, but 17 years have passed since the events of “Dune: Part Two,” which ended with Paul starting a holy war and Chani (Zendaya) spurring his ascension.
Returning cast members include Javier Bardem as Stilgar, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan and Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho (yes, he’s back!).
Newcomers for “Dune 3” are Anya Taylor-Joy as Alia Atreides, Paul’s sister, and Robert Pattinson as Scytale, someone who’s trying to dethrone Paul.
Villeneuve shares screenplay credit with Brian K. Vaughan.
The Warner Bros. and Legendary film is barreling towards a big Dec. 18, 2026 release, where it’s currently slated to go up against Disney’s “Avengers: Doomsday.” So far neither film is budging, and “Dune 3” has the edge as it has secured the IMAX theaters for opening weekend.
Villeneuve initially planned to take a breather after “Dune: Part Two” before dipping into a “Dune: Messiah” adaptation, but inspiration struck and Warner Bros. fast-tracked the film. Villeneuve wrote the screenplay with Jon Spaihts.
Now the filmmaker will have made three “Dune” movies in a row, while also preparing to move right into directing Amazon MGM’s big James Bond reboot next.
Hans Zimmer is back to compose the score, but one big change behind the scenes this time around is that Linus Sandgren (“La La Land,” “No Time to Die,” “Wuthering Heights”) is the cinematographer, after Greig Fraser shot the first two films and won the Oscar for the second. Fraser was occupied shooting “Project Hail Mary” at the time “Dune 3” was in production so he was unable to return.
