ABU DHABI: Filmmaker Denis Villeneuve and actor Timothee Chalamet have unveiled a new, action-packed trailer for “Dune: Part Three,” also featuring a look at Abu Dhabi’s Liwa desert.
The IMAX fan event on Wednesday offered audiences their most extensive glimpse yet of the eagerly awaited conclusion to the director’s sci-fi trilogy.
The film sees Chalamet reprise his role as Paul Atreides, picking up the story after his rise to power at the end of “Dune: Part Two.” Drawing on Frank Herbert’s novel “Dune Messiah,” the latest installment is set 17 years later and examines the far-reaching consequences of Paul’s reign as emperor.
Fielding questions from fans at theaters from around the world, including Los Angeles, Dallas, London, Berlin, Toronto and Abu Dhabi, Chalamet responded to the new trailer’s implications that Paul appears to be more villain than hero in this new installment.
“I hope it’s more nuanced than that,” he said. “I think it’s one of the great things in Frank Herbert’s book: I think I read somewhere that it’s why he wrote ’Messiah’ as a follow up to the first book, is people mistook Paul as a classic hero and he sort of wanted to warn the world what could happen when people blindly follow leaders and that even the good can be corrupted.”
He added: “At the end of the second film, Chani is obviously feeling a sense of betrayal towards Paul and how the relationship has crumbled. Without giving too much away in the third film, I think it’s sort of Denis’ mastery in weaving in storylines that weren’t explicit in the book. And perhaps I would say Denis took the most creative liberty, but it really ties the story together, and Zendaya, as you guys see in that trailer, gives such a fantastic performance in this, as usual.”
The actor also praised Villeneuve, who originally planned to step away from the franchise after “Dune: Part Two” before deciding to return and bring the saga to its conclusion sooner than expected.
“I’m very grateful to this man,” said Chalamet. “He could have taken years between these projects and instead he buckled in and we got it done right away. And I’m a huge fan of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy and I’m trying to imagine the last time someone knocked out three things so consecutively and just very grateful to Denis, and ‘In Denis we trust’.”
Villeneuve also explained his side of the story.
“We did both movies back-to-back, and I was quite tired,” he said. “I said to everybody, ‘Listen, I’m taking a break.’ And I went back home and two things happened. First of all, I kept waking up in the night with images, and these images started to get stronger and stronger; and also, something important I have to say is that as we were touring for Part Two, I felt an appetite and a joy and a desire to finish that story.
“And I felt suddenly a responsibility too, and I was planning to go do Part Three in a few years from now,” he added. “But I said to myself, would it be a better idea to, instead of going there inspired by nostalgia, to go there by necessity and honor these images that are coming to my mind right now?
“And I wrote the movie right away and here we are, and I’m really excited. ‘Dune: Part Three’ is based on the second book, ‘Dune Messiah,’ and it’s one of my favorites, if not my favorite. And it was a massive privilege and honor for me to bring it to the screen.”
Villeneuve also took time to speak about his experience shooting in the Abu Dhabi desert.
“The desert is a character in the three movies, and that was something we didn’t compromise on,” he said. “It was difficult for the crew and the cast. They were all very generous and very patient, but it brought a lot of poetry and energy to the films.”
The filmmaker also praised Abu Dhabi’s desert landscapes, describing the experience of filming there as unforgettable.
“To feel the energy as the sun comes up, to see the excitement in every crew member’s eyes, you feel the power of the desert and how inspiring it is,” he said. “If ever you have the chance to go there, I recommend it. It’s extraordinary.”
