You'd think that the best way to watch the first trailer for Dune: Part Three would be on the big screen. Well, according to Warner Bros., portrait mode on TikTok is a more fitting choice, but fret not, as we have the long-awaited preview for you here in all its breathtaking, widescreen glory.
Set 17 years after the events of Dune: Part Two, this epic first look at the movie opens with Zendaya's Chani asking Timothée Chalamet's Paul Atreides what he thinks they should name their potential future daughter. If it's a boy, she suggests they go with Leto, a homage to Paul's father, Duke Leto Atreides.
From there, we're treated to heaps of epic imagery and a first look at various new and returning cast members (including Robert Pattinson rocking a platinum blonde buzz cut as Scytale), before Paul stands before a huge, cheering crowd.
"I'm not afraid to die," he says, adding, "but I must not die yet." The Dune: Part Three trailer concludes with Chani gearing up for battle with an unseen opponent.
"It’s a very different movie than the first ones," filmmaker Denis Villeneuve said at a press event last night. "It’s a good idea to come back to those world, not by nostalgia, but by urgency,” he said. “If the first movie was contemplation, a boy exploring a new world, and the second one is a war movie, this one is a thriller. It is action-packed and tense. More muscular."
"We see Paul dealing with the consequences of having too much power," he continued, addressing the 17-year time-jump and confirming that, while the threequel follows those attempting to overthrow him, "the heartbeat of the film is still the relationship between Paul and Chani."
All signs point to this being a suitably epic conclusion to the trilogy, and the initial response to the trailer on social media has been overwhelmingly positive. Can it hold its own against Avengers: Doomsday in theaters? Well, it already has the advantage, thanks to the all-important IMAX screens Warner Bros. has secured over the holidays.
Directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Villeneuve and Brian K. Vaughan, Dune: Part Three is based on the novel Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert and delivers the epic conclusion to Villeneuve's trilogy.
The movie stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson, Isaach De Bankolé, Charlotte Rampling, Anya Taylor-Joy, Robert Pattinson, and Javier Bardem, along with newcomers Nakoa-Wolf Momoa and Ida Brooke.
Dune: Part Three arrives in theaters on December 18. Watch the trailer below (via SFFGazette.com).