There’s no question that Dune: Part Two is going to be one of the biggest movies of 2023. The follow-up film, which explores more of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, has one of the best casts ever assembled. Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya are back, alongside Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Christopher Walken, and more.
The trailer begins with Paul explaining swimming to Chani. She doesn’t believe what he’s saying. “In the shadows of Arrakis lie many secrets. But the darkest of them all may remain,” Princess Irulan says. “The end of House Atreides.” She later wonders if Paul is still alive.
The footage features a glimpse of Paul riding a sandworm, Feyd-Rautha fighting, and more. “You will never lose me, Paul Atreides,” Chani says to him. In the final moments of the trailer, Paul rises as a leader of the Fremen.
Director Denis Villeneuve told Vanity Fair that Dune 2 is a “war epic action movie,” but the center of the film is Paul and Chani’s relationship. “I wanted to make a very human movie, very close to the characters, despite the scope of the film,” he said. “I kept saying to my crew, ‘The most important thing is that spark, that relationship between both of these characters.’ If we don’t capture that, if we don’t have that onscreen, there’s no movie. The epicenter of the story is this relationship.”
One day before the trailer’s release, Warner Bros. dropped a teaser video that featured the first look at Austin’s Feyd-Rautha. The Elvis actor looked unrecognizable completely bald with no eyebrows.
The first Dune film was initially supposed to be released in 2020, but the movie was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The movie was eventually released on October 2021 in theaters and on HBO Max. Despite being available on streaming at release and the ongoing pandemic, Dune earned more than $400 million at the box office.
Dune: Part Two will be released on November 3, 2023. This is a film that simply must be seen in theaters. The movie was shot entirely with IMAX cameras.