Those in attendance at CinemaCon in Las Vegas last night were treated to the first footage from Denis Villeneuve's Dune sequel during the Warner Bros. panel, and it sounds like the Blade Runner 2049 director has upped the ante considerably when it comes to Part 2's battle sequences.
The teaser wasn't officially released online, unfortunately, but we do have a breakdown of what was shown (via THR).
"The trailer indeed looked epic in scope, with a centerpiece being Paul’s first ride on a Sandworm and preparing for a Chrys Nife battle with Austin Butler, who joins the cast as the notorious Feyd Rautha, who appears as a bald albino in the trailer. Villeneuve described franchise newcomer Butler’s character as an “Olympic sword-master crossed with a psychotic serial killer.” The trailer concludes with Paul standing in front of thousands of Freman, raising his hands to the cheering crowd."
The footage also spotlighted Black Widow star Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, who will reportedly have a much bigger role in this movie than she does in the first book.
If you've read Frank Herbert's first Dune novel, you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect from Part 2, anyway, as Paul and his mother Jessica adapt to life with the Fremen and plot their revenge against the vile Baron Harkonnen, who had Paul's father Leto killed in the first film.
“Part One is more of a contemplative movie. Part Two is an action-packed, epic, war movie. It is much more dense. We went to all new locations,” said Villeneuve. “I didn’t want a feeling of repetition. It’s all new sets. Everything is new.”
Dune: Part 2's other new cast additions include the legendary Christopher Walken as The Emperor, and Lea Seydoux as Lady Margot Fenring. Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Stellan Skarsgård, Josh Brolin, and Dave Bautista will reprise their roles from the first film.
The synopsis reads: “Part Two will focus on Paul assembling a massive army of Fremen to combat the ruthless Harkonnen, as he essentially becomes a mythical messiah figure to the inhabitants of Arrakis.”
Dune: Part Two was recently pushed back from October 20, 2023 to November 17, 2023.