Dune: Part Three Trailer: Denis Villeneuve And Timothée Chalamet Return To Arrakis

As The Litany Against Fear from the year 10,191 says: "fear is the mind killer." It could be said that the Litany has applied in the past to fans of Frank Herbert's "Dune" novels, as they watched them be turned into feature films, television miniseries, spin-off books, and other media of dubious quality over the last 40-odd years or so. Though each "Dune" project has its supporters and detractors, it wasn't until director and co-writer Denis Villeneuve brought his vision for Arrakis to the screen that the vast majority of "Dune" fans seemed to be pleased. Part of what helped Villeneuve achieve this was his ability to split Herbert's unwieldy original novel into two feature films instead of being forced to stuff it all into one. While 2021's "Dune: Part One" felt a little awkward and incomplete as a result, 2024's "Dune: Part Two" paid off the gambit in spectacular fashion, proving that Villeneuve's uncompromising and fearless take on the material was willing to, like the Kwisatz Haderach himself, go places others wouldn't dare.

Although Villeneuve was originally going to take a break from the Known Universe after "Part Two," he ended up changing his mind and rolled right into production on "Dune: Part Three." The anticipation for this third installment was already fairly high. However, now that the official teaser trailer for "Dune: Part Three" has been released, that anticipation has gone atomic. The trailer not only proves that the doom-laden, maximalist, and brutalist vision that Villeneuve's first two installments delivered is still intact, but promises that it's turned up way past 11 this time. While Villeneuve is the type of filmmaker who has built an impressive body of work beloved by many, if the trailer for "Part Three" is any indication, this might just be his masterpiece.

Even those who find themselves baffled by Frank Herbert's world of the Bene Gesserit and Bene Tleilax have to give it up to Denis Villeneuve for stuffing his "Dune" films with an incredibly stacked and buzzworthy cast. The returning actors alone are a murderers row of thespians: Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, Javier Bardem, Florence Pugh, and so on. "Part Three" adds to this names like Anya Taylor-Joy and Robert Pattinson, who seem to be bringing their penchant for playing intense, oddball characters to their roles here. Leading the ensemble is Timothée Chalamet as Paul Muad'Dib Atreides, tripling down on his knack for playing morally toxic characters. Paul was already headed that way during "Part Two," of course, but if he was merely dictatorial then, "Part Three" seems to promise him becoming fully fanatical. If Chalamet is as good here as he's been recently, perhaps he might be at the Oscars next year, too.

That theme of fanaticism sweeping over a galaxy is brilliantly expressed in this trailer thanks to the music of composer Hans Zimmer. The cue takes a chant heard early in the trailer and lets it become a swirling round of drums, voices, and other elements that grow overwhelmingly oppressive. In this way, it conflates Paul's zealotry with a commentary on modern celebrity, the chant and beats sounding almost like a hip hop track as much as anything else. I was lucky to see the trailer in IMAX during a preview event, and the way this thing looks and sounds in the format is jaw-dropping. Fear isn't the mind killer after all; anticipation is. We'll just have to hang on and ride the worm until December 18, 2026.