Everything We Know About ‘Dune: Part Three’

Unlike “Dune: Part Two,” which was a direct followup to “Dune: Part One,” “Part Three” takes place 12 years after the end of the second movie. “Dune: Part Three” follows Paul Atreides (Chalamet) as he becomes emperor and grapples with threats inside and outside of his palace. Paul will also have kids in this one. He and Chani (Zendaya) have twins Leto II (Nakoa-Wolf Momoa) and Ghanima (Ida Brooke), who were born after the events of “Part Two.” According to Collider, “Part Three” will finish Paul’s narrative arc.

If that’s not enough, here’s the film’s first official trailer:

Like the first two films, Villeneuve was the primary creative force behind “Dune: Part Three,” with Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros. as the studios ushering all three “Dune” pictures to the screen. Villeneuve co-wrote the script with comic book writer Brian K. Vaughan. Jon Spaihts, who penned the first two films with Villeneuve, served as an executive producer.

Villeneuve has clarified, per Variety, that “Dune: Part Three” will not complete a trilogy (although this will mark the end of his involvement with the franchise). Instead, he explained the first two movies adapted the first book in Herbert’s six-book “Dune” series, and the third installment will “do something that feels different and has its own identity” in adapting the second book in the series, “Dune Messiah.” 

Of course, we have the source material to thank for the film’s upcoming premiere. Villeneuve noted that he was slated to work on another film before returning to the world of Arrakis. However, he was pulled to complete his artistic vision. “It was that kind of roller coaster like that around the world where we see an excitement, and I felt an appetite for the third movie that I was not expecting,” he said during a Q&A. “You know when you, as a filmmaker, you make a series of movies, you are in a relationship with the audience. And I felt a responsibility to finish the story.

“I went back home. I said to my crew, ‘I’m taking a break. That’s it. Bye-bye.’ And I went back home and I kept awaking in the middle of the night with those images. I was supposed to do another movie in the meantime, but the image of ‘Dune: Part Three,’ inspired by ‘Dune Messiah,’ kept coming back,” Villeneuve added. “And I said, ‘Oh, all right, let’s do it.’ ”

Much of the existing cast will reprise their previous roles, including:

• Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides
• Zendaya as Chani
• Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica
• Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan
• Anya Taylor-Joy as Alia Atreides
• Javier Bardem as Stilgar
• Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck

Jason Momoa will return as Duncan Idaho, even though his character was killed during the first movie. He will be joined by his real-life son, Nakoa-Wolf Momoa, who will play Leto II, Paul and Chani’s son. Ida Brooke will play Leto’s twin sister, Ghanima. Pattinson has also joined the cast as the film’s villain, Scytale.