Empire (via SFFGazette.com) has unveiled three new Dune: Part Three covers for this month's issue. The first puts Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) front and centre, with Chani (Zendaya), Irulan (Florence Pugh), and Scytale (Robert Pattinson) looming behind him.
The second shifts the spotlight to Chani, with Paul, Hayt (Jason Momoa), and Alia Atreides (Anya Taylor-Joy) also featured. Both are fairly striking, and the magazine itself should be full of new stills and comments from the threequel's cast and filmmakers.
Finally, there's a special subscriber cover, featuring a portrait of a crumbling Paul Atreides, bathed in Spice and wrapped in Chani's blue scarf. The piece was illustrated by Greg Ruth. For those of you keeping track, it seems likely that next month's cover story will be Avengers: Doomsday.
Talking to the site, filmmaker Denis Villeneuve teased, "The idea was to try to make a movie that will have the same DNA — it’s a Dune movie — but it’s a very different movie. It has a different pacing."
"We are back with the same characters, but this time the world has totally changed," he said of the 17-year time jump. "Their psyches, their perspective on reality has totally changed, and Paul is living with the burden of what he created, trying to find a way out of this spiral of violence."
Pushed on what drew him to an adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune: Messiah, Villeneuve added, "I said, 'Maybe it’s a good idea to go back to this project, not out of nostalgia, not because I miss it, but the opposite — I’m tired of it.' I want to make sure that I will be severe with the material. That I will not be complacent."
Dune: Part Three is set nearly two decades after Paul Atreides seized control of the Imperium. Now a ruthless Emperor, Paul must face the consequences of his reign as old allies return, terrifying new threats emerge, and betrayal lurks in every shadow.
Haunted by visions of Imperial collapse and the reappearance of his long-lost love, Paul is drawn into a sweeping conspiracy, with Chani at the heart of its unfolding mystery. As rebellion brews and enemies close in, Paul must confront the true cost of power and the fate of those he loves the most.
The film stars Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Oscar nominee Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson, Isaach de Bankolé, Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling, Anya Taylor-Joy, Robert Pattinson, and Oscar winner Javier Bardem.
Denis Villeneuve directs from a screenplay by himself and Brian K. Vaughan (this is the first chapter of the trilogy not penned by Jon Spaihts), based on the novels written by Frank Herbert.
Dune: Part Three is produced by Oscar nominees Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Villeneuve and Tanya Lapointe, and Joe Caracciolo, and executive produced by Joshua Grode, Thomas Tull, Herbert W. Gains, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson, Richard P. Rubinstein, John Harrison and Jessica Derhammer.
The epic conclusion to the trilogy arrives in theaters on December 18.