This has been a special week for Denis Villeneuve's Dune. A special preview event hosted in IMAX theaters around the country have allowed fans to have an early glimpse at the blockbuster – including the first 10 minutes of the movie, a full sequence from the first act, and an interview with composer Hans Zimmer about the score – and today being the 22nd of July means that we are now exactly three months away from the film's release. It should go without saying that our anticipation for the movie is going into overload, and if we're being honest the brand new trailer featured above really isn't helping, as it only further makes us think that this is going to be the greatest cinematic event of 2021.
We have been waiting a very long time for this new spot for the film, as the first trailer for Dune landed all the way back in September of last year (to add context, at that time audiences were still being told that the film would be heading to theaters in December 2020). We have been aching to see more of the movie ever since, and this new preview absolutely satisfies our appetites... for now. From the explosive action, to the stunning cast, to the intense action sequences, everything about this preview makes your mandible want to hang limply off your face and wish that time travel could just be invented already.
Based on the beloved sci-fi novel by Frank Herbert, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet), a young man whose life changes forever when he learns that an imperial decree has decided that his family will be moved from the lush planet Caladan to the dry desert planet Arrakis. Paul's father, Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac), knows that this decision is a trap set by the vicious, brutal Baron Vladamir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) and the Emperor – who have come to fear the might and power of House Atreides – but Leto is confident in his ability to outmaneuver them. When they arrive on Arrakis, Paul begins to discover a deep connection with the place, and it begins a series of events that effectively change the universe.
The upcoming movie is an adaptation of only approximately half of the original book, similar to the approach taken by the same studio, Warner Bros., in the making of Andy Muschietti's IT. Should Dune perform well at the box office, development on a sequel will accelerate, and the follow up would presumably cover all of the material from the rest of the first novel (and possibly parts of Frank Herbert's penned sequels as well).
In addition to Timothee Chalament, Oscar Isaac, and Stellan Skarsgard, you likely recognized a large number of familiar faces in this new Dune trailer, as the cast is just extraordinary. Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, David Dastmalchian, Chang Chen, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem all also have key roles to play in the upcoming blockbuster, and while we only get the briefest of glimpses at all of them – including our first full looks at Baron Harkonnen and Dastmalchian's Piter de Vries – they all look spectacular.
Dune is set to arrive in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously this fall, premiering on October 22. To get a sense of everything else coming out between now and the end of December, head on over to our 2021 Movie Release Calendar.
