By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 1 hour ago
Generations of sci-fi fans waited for Dune to finally be recognized as one of the greatest sci-fi epics in history. Frank Herbert’s grand vision was deemed unfilmable, unadaptable, and incomprehensible for the average movie-goer.
That’s why the reveal of Dune: Part Three is so stunning. The story of the second novel, Dune Messiah, is coming to theaters. It’s being marketed as the conclusion of the Dune trilogy, which is odd, as in the books, it’s the end of the prologue to the real story yet to come.
Dune: Part Three Brings Dune Messiah To Life
After the events of Dune: Part Two, Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) is seen in the teaser trailer as the leader of the Fremen, accepting his role as their Messiah, the Muad’Dib, while his lover Chani (Zendaya) appears to be pregnant. The teaser doesn’t reveal if it’s a boy or a girl, but what the brief two minutes and 30 seconds of footage does reveal is Paul’s doubts about being the Messiah. In the best line of the teaser, his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) reminds Paul that his father “didn’t start any wars.”
Dune: Part Three is again going to be full of amazing special effects, gorgeous shots of Arakkis, and even more all-out wars between the Fremen and everyone who wants them dead. Which, as it turns out, is everyone else. Towards the end of the trailer, we hear Paul say he’s not afraid to die, not yet, as what looks like the biggest explosion yet goes off right in front of him.
A Darker Story Than It Looks
Those who have read the books are excited that Dune: Part Three looks, amazingly, to contain the major plot beats of the novel. If Denis Villeneuve and Brian K. Vaughn’s script sticks to Frank Herbert’s masterpiece, this is going to be a dark, but very satisfying movie that’s not going to go the way fans of the films will expect. The trailer looks like it’s front-loading the battle scenes, but as with every Dune film, it’s the political intrigue and philosophical discussion that’s going to eat up most of the running time.
Joining the cast for Dune: Part Three is Robert Pattinson, as the Tleilaxu Face Dancer, Scytale, another role that’s going to remind people that playing Edward in Twilight was the odd role out for one of Hollywood’s strangest leading men. The returning Florence Pugh, as Paul’s wife Irulan, and Anna Taylor-Joy as his sister, Alia, will get substantially more to do in the third movie. Jason Momoa, who brings to life Duncan Idaho, will also get a lot more screen time now that he’s overcome the small problem of being dead.
The Last Dune Movie Because Studios Are Cowards
There’s a lot to unpack in just over two minutes of footage, and book readers can already pick out key scenes that have made the jump to the big screen, but it’s the marketing for Dune: Part Three that’s revealing a whole lot. We knew Denis Villeneuve was only to make three movies, but again, the original series is six novels, with Dune and Dune Messiah becoming mere footnotes by the time of the fourth novel, God-Emperor of Dune. No studio will ever adapt that particular novel about a human/sandworm hybrid galactic tyrant ruling for thousands of years as he brings humanity to his grand vision, “The Golden Path.”
All of that is to say that Dune: Part Three, referred to as the end of the trilogy, is going to be as far as Hollywood goes into Frank Herbert’s universe. This is the final time we’ll get to see Villeneuve’s vision for Arakkis, and in a landscape devoid of smart sci-fi, it might be the last great sci-fi blockbuster of this decade.
