Timothée Chalamet is the twink prince of space in the new Dune trailer, just as the prophecy foretold

Dune's new trailer—and an exclusive IMAX preview—show off the scope and sprawl of the upcoming sci-fi epic

By Cameron Scheetz | July 22, 2021 | 1:18pm

Film News Dune

Timothée Chalamet is the twink prince of space in the new Dune trailer, just as the prophecy foretold

Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, and Timothée Chalamet dust themselves off and strike a pose in Dune Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures

Save for some release date shuffling, transmissions from planet Dune had been pretty scant of late. That all changed earlier this week when Warner Bros. unleashed a barrage of character posters, introducing audiences to the key players in Denis Villeneuve’s first film in a planned two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal sci-fi epic. But those somber one-sheets were just a tease of what’s to come, as the studio has just unveiled a striking new trailer for Dune—the first footage we’ve seen since last fall.

As the opening voiceover from Zendaya’s Chani (who sounds an awful lot like Lola Bunny) succinctly lays out, tensions are high on her home planet of Arrakis; the native Fremen have been under harsh rule of the Harkonnens, who harvest the land for a spice with metaphysical properties known as melange, the most valuable resource in the universe. We’re also introduced to aristocratic heir Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) who feels an innate and mysterious draw to Arrakis and its people. While the trailer doesn’t do much to clarify Dune’s sprawling plot to those unfamiliar with Herbert’s novel, it more than delivers in action and scope, showcasing Villeneuve’s beautifully-rendered vision of this stark, sandy world.

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Perhaps the trailer’s most notable scene is a lighter one between Paul and Atreides family friend/dashing Swordmaster Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa). When the two are gleefully reunited, Duncan makes a crack at Paul’s slender frame—it’s a moment of levity that seems to cement Chalamet’s status as Hollywood’s leading twink, and one that signifies to audiences that Dune won’t offer up strictly doom-and-gloom. Check the trailer out for yourself here:

In addition to a peek at the new trailer, IMAX gave The A.V. Club an exclusive preview of Dune earlier this week, presenting the first 10 minutes of the film, an extended action sequence, and featurette interviews with the cast, Villeneuve, and composer Hans Zimmer. The footage displayed the jaw-dropping scale of the film (those sandworms are really a doozy to behold), and assuaged any fears that Herbert’s mythical world was too dense, too “unadaptable” to translate to film. Chani’s trailer voiceover is expanded upon, narrating the opening minutes of the movie, and then a brief history lesson on Arrakis for a curious Paul seamlessly establishes the basics of Dune, setting viewers up for a grand adventure in a galaxy far, far away.

But the biggest takeaway from the preview presentation is that the cast and crew really, really want you to be able to experience Dune on the big screen—preferably the biggest screen possible, if IMAX has their way. Villeneuve’s been pretty vocal about his disappointment in the studio’s decision to debut the film in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously, so it’s no surprise that the director and his ensemble (also including Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin) were eager to point out how truly massive the story feels. It’s so massive, in fact, that the second half of Herbert’s Dune is being saved for a planned Part Two, which has yet to receive the official greenlight—as the title card in the opening minutes dutifully reminds viewers, this is, in fact, merely Dune: Part One. If the future of Dune is determined by box office numbers—as Villeneuve alludes to—then perhaps it’s ticket stubs that will prove to be the most valuable resource in the universe.

Dune is slated to hit theaters on October 22.