As Warner Bros. launched the first trailer for Dune: Part 3, the studio brought director Denis Villeneuve and some special guests out to talk the highly-anticipated sci-fi sequel with moderator Reece Feldman. Officially set 17 years after the second film, Part 3 adapts author Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah and will follow Paul Atreides’ reign as Emperor of the Known Universe, a period spurred on by a galaxy-spanning war that results in the death of billions.
Dune: Part 3 Is A Very Different Movie
When we last saw these characters, Javier Bardem’s Stilgar was leading the Fremen off-planet to fight the Great Houses in Paul’s name, while Zendaya’s Chani fled into the desert as her beloved Usul became the very thing he promised he wouldn’t. “It’s a very different movie from the first ones,” Villeneuve says, “With a different tone, a different rhythm, a different pace.”
“If the first movie was more of a contemplation, a movie [about a] boy exploring a new world, and the second one [was] a war movie, this one is a thriller. It’s a more action-packed and tense film; more muscular, I would say.” This is clear in the first trailer. Though there are plenty of scenes calling back to the first two films, it’s clear that Dune: Part 3 is going places the series hasn’t gone before, showing blood-soaked battlefields and alien-like interiors where political maneuvering is as deadly as a crysknife.
Changes in Front Of and Behind the Camera
Though Villeneuve confirms that the film will jump forward at least 17 years, the director and the trailer indicate that audiences will still be filled in on what happened in between: “We see Paul dealing with the consequences of having too much power and him trying to figure out how to get out of this cycle of violence. And of course, he’s an emperor who can see the future, so he’s kind of invincible.”
But prescience doesn’t mean Paul won’t face great adversity, as Villeneuve notes the challenges Paul will face in the upcoming film. “We will follow people trying to overthrow him, and it’s quite an intense story.” On an even larger scale, Villeneuve discussed the changes to the vast world populated by these characters and how this new approach to the series led to some behind-the-camera differences, too, most notable of which is the addition of Swedish cinematographer Linus Sandgren, who is taking over from Academy Award winner Greig Fraser.
The thing is that the world changed in those years. The climate is different on Arrakis. [It] is still the desert planet, but there are differences. We are visiting new sets, new places. I brought the camera [to] areas of the planet that you guys have not seen before. And we are visiting new planets as well.
I wanted to approach this with a new pair of eyes [so] I approached my dear friend, Linus Sandgren. We decided, both of us, to shoot most of the movie on film. And we shot the movie in 65 millimeter, most of it. A big part of it was also shot in IMAX Film, [the] first time for me, but I kept the desert in digital because I liked the brutality of the digital IMAX. So the movie is really meant to be an IMAX experience and to be seen on the biggest screen as possible. That’s the way we dreamed the movie.
Paul and Chani are Still the Heart of this Story
Despite all these changes, though, some things stay the same. “It’s still a love story,” says Villeneuve, “The heart beat of the film is still the relationship between Paul and Chani.” This is partly why the director says Dune: Part 3 may be his “most personal film yet.”
“[Paul and Chani] struggling with their relationship, having the burden and incredible pressure from the world around them and Paul having to find a way out of the cycle of violence; there’s something about the way their love and their relationship evolves that is very personal to me. “
The director also confirmed that Hans Zimmer will be back to compose the score for the upcoming film, though, like many other aspects, Villeneuve says the score will be very different, too. “It’s something that Hans is very excited about and approaching with the same spirit as the first two films,” the director says. “I insist it’s a Dune movie, but it will be different. And that’s the word. So for me, I wanted the audience, the fans of Dune to be excited and kind of shocked and surprised by where we brought the story.”
New Characters Like Alia and Scytale Will Bring New Challenges for Paul
Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Robert Pattinson, and Anya Taylor-Joy joined their director to introduce the trailer and answer a few questions. Pattinson and Taylor-Joy join the cast of the film as Scytale, a mysterious new villain, and Alia, Paul’s younger sister, respectively. Alia’s role will be much larger this time around after Taylor-Joy appeared briefly during one of Paul’s visions in the second film.
Now, though, Alia appears as a full-fledged adult and, if her character poster is any indication, she’s out for blood. “Alia has a very intense, blessing-curse situation,” Taylor-Joy says, hinting at Alia’s awakening via the Water of Life Lady Jessica drank to become a Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit. “She carries the weight and wisdom of generations and generations in her head. She’s never in a singular conversation.”
There’s one thing that motivates her, though: “She really feels most strongly about her love and devotion to her brother because that is the only person who’s ever made her feel like she makes sense,” Taylor-Joy says. “He’s understood her from before she was even born, and she will do anything for him, to various degrees of insanity.”
That includes protecting her from any potential infiltrators that could attempt to disrupt Paul’s reign as Emperor, including the mysterious new character Scytale, played by Pattinson. “He’s an unusual character in the book,” says the actor, “You can’t really tell whose side he’s on. It’s kind of what makes him interesting.”
So is he a villain? Sort of… “I wouldn’t say he’s a conventional kind of bad guy. He might even be a good guy. Who knows? But it’s an extremely fun character to play.”
Though Timothée Chalamet, Florence Pugh, and Jason Momoa weren’t there in person, they didn’t miss out on the fun. Chalamet sent in a video hyping up the film and introducing Villeneuve, while Pugh and Momoa asked questions of their fellow cast members, with the latter asking how his character Duncan Idaho returns. Villeneuve simply cited author Frank Herbert’s genius in his answer.
Meanwhile, Pugh asked Zendaya for an update on the relationship status of their characters after the end of Part 2 saw Chani flee from Paul while Pugh’s Princess Irulan was betrothed to the new emperor. Zendaya, however, played coy.
Before showing the audience the trailer, Villeneuve was asked about the progress of the film: “It’s cooking. It’s going well. The movie is alive, mostly done in the editing room, but [these] movies are not small and require a lot of post-production. So we are full speed in post-production. And after, I’m running out to the editing room again.”