Get a look at a pair of Ornithopters on the set of Dune

It’s 2020, and that means we’re officially counting down the days until Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movie hits theaters!

Frank Herbert’s Dune follows the rise of young Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), a member of a noble family that leaves the lush planet of Caladan to run the harsh desert planet of Arrakis, aka Dune. Once he and his family arrive, things get chaotic, and Paul is forced to learn the ways of the native inhabitants of the planet, the Fremen. It all climaxes in a confrontation with the Padishah Emperor himself.

Part of what makes the lore of Dune so interesting is the unique tools used every day by the characters in the story. One of those tools is an Ornithopter, or “‘thopters,” as they’re called in the book. These are small transport vehicles used to carry between six and nine men back and forth on the surface of a planet. They’re capable of space flight, although no one uses them for that.

Anyway, there will definitely be ‘thopters in the Dune movie. Recently, fansite Appocalypse shared photos from the set that feature some Ornithopters under tarps. Check them out:

Now that’s what I imagined when I read about Ornithopters in Frank Herbert’s books. They actually look like giant dragonflies, which is intentional. In the books, they are winged vessels capable of flight through jet propulsion, with their flight mimicking the movements of birds. The wings keep the ‘thopter in hovering in the air, while the jets move it forward.

In David Lynch’s adaptation of Dune (1984), the ‘thopter wasn’t really on display like it was in the books. We got glimpses of the vessel as Paul and his father Duke Leto approached it, and again as they did an inspection of a spice mining site.

Ornithopters weren’t really a factor in the Sci-Fi Channel’s 2000 adaptation of the book, eitehr, although actor Alec Newman, who played Paul, did give us a tour of one behind the scenes:

Heres hoping Villeneuve puts the Ornithopters to good use when his Dune hits theaters on December 18.

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