The Dune trailer is coming next week: Get a full breakdown

The trailer for Dune, Denis Villeneuve’s star-studded adaptation of the classic sci-fi story, is coming next week, but some have already seen it.

For my money, the most exciting movie for the rest of the year is Dune, Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel (well, of the first half of it, anyway). Many have tried to adapt this story before — Alejandro Jodorowsky, David Lynch — but it’s never quite worked. But with Villeneuve’s talent and passion for sci-fi (he’s the guy behind Arrival and Blade Runner 2049), not to mention the new movie’s stupid amazing cast, this could be the one.

Very soon, the world will get a look at what they’re in for when Warner Bros. releases the first trailer for Dune on Wednesday, September 9. But some lucky folks have gotten to see the trailer early, since it’s being run alongside Christopher Nolan’s new movie Tenet, which opens in select parts of the world today.

Among those lucky few is Johnny Sobczak of Inside The Film Room, who have a detailed breakdown of the trailer. Read no further if you want to avoid SPOILERS.

The trailer, which runs for one minute and 37 seconds, is framed by lead character Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) meeting with Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam (Charlotte Rampling), the leader of the powerful Bene Gesserit sisterhood, a powerful organization that’s worked for centuries to create a superbeing known as the Kwisatz Haderach. Paul is a possible candidate, and early in the novel the Reverend Mother brutally tests him by having him stick his hand in a box that causes tremendous pain. If he removes it, she will kill him with a needle called the Gom Jabbar.

The trailer shows us this key moment, which is reportedly rendered in opulent beauty, from the ornate sets to the Reverend Mother’s complex gown. As the test goes on, we cut away to different parts of the movie, getting our first look at the desert planet of Dune, where Paul will travel with his family not long after this. “[The dunes are] bright yellow, and you can feel the sun through the screen,” Sobczak writes.

We also shots of almost every cast member, including Oscar Isaac as Paul’s father Duke Leto Atreides (apparently he “looks absolutely regal and badass”) and Rebecca Ferguson as his mother the Lady Jessica, a Bene Gesserit herself. We also see members of the Fremen people, the native inhabitants of Dune, including Javier Bardem as Stilgar and Zendaya as Chani.

Then there’s Jason Momoa as Paul’s swordmaster Duncan Idaho and Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban Harkonnen, aka the Beast; he looks painted white or covered in chalk. The Harkonnen family are the sworn enemies of the Atreides family, and will cause all manner of mischief for them before the tale is done. We see what might be the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) emerge from a huge tub full of liquid in “a perfectly grotesque moment.”

Did I mention that Josh Brolin (Thanos) is in this as Paul’s tutor Gurney Halleck? I told you the cast was stupid amazing.

Dune is due out in theaters on December 18, 2020, and indeed, the trailer closes with the phrase “only in theaters.” With the coronavirus still raging across the world and companies like Disney deciding to release major movies straight to streaming, that almost feels more like a challenge than a statement. We’ll see if it holds.

However I get to watch Dune, I’m looking forward to it. The trailer sounds amazing — Sobczak also makes note of Hans Zimmer’s stirring score — and I’m confident that Villeneuve and the crew he’s gathered can finally give this story the onscreen treatment it deserves.

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