Zendaya takes center stage in new Dune trailer

Dune Day is approached, when Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic will finally land in theaters after being delayed by nearly a year. Villeneuve is the guy behind Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, so if there’s anyone who can translate Herbert’s brainy brand of epic to the screen, it’s him. Watch today’s brand new trailer to see how the movie is coming along:

Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), the scion of a noble house who’s family is put in charge of the desert planet of Arrakis, aka Dune. This universe operates under a system of far future feudalism, and House Atreides faces dangerous threats from their longtime rival House Harkonnen. We get another glimpse of Stellan Skarsgård as the calculating Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, looking quite a bit more intimidating than when Kenneth McMillan played him in David Lynch’s 1984 Dune movie.

We also get a lot of Zendaya as Chani, the Fremen woman who eventually becomes Paul’s love interest. The Fremen are the native people of Dune, but because this movie only covers the first half of Herbert’s original book, we probably won’t see much of her until the sequel. Villeneuve seems to be getting around this by making her the unofficial narrator with a starring role in Paul’s dreams.

The new Dune movie will add jokes

I’ve also got to note the presence of humor in the trailer. Anyone who’s read Herbert’s books knows that they take themselves pretty seriously, which is fine because they’re about serious stuff. But this is a Hollywood movie we’re talking about and they probably want to make the story a little more accessible, hence banter between Paul and Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa) about Paul putting on muscle mass.

I’m fine with it. Honestly, the Dune books are good but the clinical sheen can sometimes be hard to get past; a couple of gags wouldn’t hurt.

Dune comes out in theaters and on HBO Max on October 22.

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