Warner Bros. brought a welcome surprise to CinemaCon last night, with attendees treated to the first seven minutes of Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Three.
The extended action sequence, which has been compared to the brutal D-Day opening battle from Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, begins with Paul Atreides' (Timothée Chalamet) army, led by Stilgar (Javier Bardem), arriving on a rain-soaked planet, where they are met with a lot more resistance from the locals than they expected.
A bloody battle ensues, with many of Stilgar's men wiped out in the initial attack. The Fremen leader gathers his remaining troops, and they march towards a seemingly insurmountable force.
Spoilers follow.
The teaser concludes with a preview of several other scenes, including a conversation between Paul and Hayt (Duncan Idaho's Ghola, once again played by Jason Momoa), and a face-off between Muad'Dib and Chani (Zendaya), who now appears to stand opposed to Paul's crusade.
“How does it feel to be human like everyone else, Paul Atreides?”, the Fremen warrior asks her once beloved leader as he points a gun at her.
“The years don’t seem to have been kind to anyone on Dune," Zendaya said during the panel. "It’s been an ungentle and unkind few years. There’s so much left to fight for.” She continued about Chani, “That youthful outlook is completely gone.”
As for Paul, Chalamet says his character has now "become his worst vision,” adding that the once noble hero is "an all-powerful emperor of the dark universe” in the threequel.
You can check out a detailed breakdown of the footage via Brandon Davis at the link below.
Set 17 years after the events of Part Two, the movie finds Paul Atreides struggling with his decision to start a holy war that has resulted in over 60 billion deaths across the known universe. As new enemies close in around them, Paul and Chani's relationship is put to the test.
Directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Villeneuve and Brian K. Vaughan, Dune: Part Three is based on the novel Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert and delivers the epic conclusion to Villeneuve’s trilogy. The film stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson, Isaach De Bankolé, with Charlotte Rampling, with Anya Taylor-Joy, and Robert Pattinson, and Javier Bardem, and features newcomers Nakoa-Wolf Momoa and Ida Brooke.
Dune: Part Three will be released in Ireland on 18th December 2026