Fresh off being snubbed for the second year in a row at the Oscars, Timothée Chalamet has dropped a first look at Paul Atreides in Dune: Part Three. The first character posters have since followed, highlighting new and returning cast members.
It's also been confirmed that the first trailer for the threequel is set to be released tomorrow, where it will premiere on TikTok. This planned debut may put it in direct competition with Spider-Man: Brand New Day based on current rumours.
Dune: Part Three will go head-to-head with Avengers: Doomsday in theaters this December, with movie fans affectionately referring to the clash as "Dunesday." Will it be the new Barbenheimer? We'll see.
In Dune: Part Three, Paul will be roughly 15 to 20 years older than when we last saw him, and he certainly looks a little worse for wear here. Burdened by the billions who have died in his holy war, Paul has become a weary, tragic figure, and more cautionary anti-hero than the triumphant messiah he seemed to be at the end of Dune: Part Two.
"It was for a film, for 'Dune: Part Three,' and there’s supposed to be a nice character shift," Chalamet said of the buzzcut he was rocking while promoting Marty Supreme last December. "And I’m playing 15, 20 years older, so we did a 3 millimetre hair cut, I think it’s called."
"Then the director [Denis Villeneuve] wanted more, 1.5. Then we did 1, and I begged him. I said, 'Please, please, like... Your hair, weirdly, we're all attached, it’s kind of like our personality."
The movie is based on Frank Herbert's 1969 novel, Dune Messiah, which, as noted, follows Paul Atreides' struggles with the consequences of his Fremen-led jihad upon his ascension to Emperor Muad'Dib.
Villeneuve has described the first two movies as "one entity," adding that they're "a movie made in two parts. It's finished, it's done."
As for why he came back for a third chapter, the filmmaker added, "Like Herbert did with Dune: Messiah, I think it’ll be a great idea to do something completely different. The story takes place 12 years after where we left the characters at the end of Part Two."
"Their journey, their story is different this time, and that’s why I always say that while it’s the same world, it’s a new film with new circumstances."
Dune: Part Three stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Florence Pugh, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jason Momoa, Rebecca Ferguson, and Josh Brolin. Directed by Denis Villeneuve and with Linus Sandgren serving as DP, the movie is set to be released on December 18.