Sandworms and assassins converge in new Dune: Part Two trailer

The sequel to director Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movie is set to release next spring, and Warner Bros. is clearly ready to ratchet up the anticipation. Just this week, we heard that Dune: Part Two’s runtime was revealed, as well as that the screenplay for Dune Messiah, the proposed third film in the trilogy, was “almost finished.” Now, we have a brand new trailer to feast our eyes on, and it’s as epic as you’d hope:

Paul and Chani’s love story takes center stage in new Dune: Part Two trailer

Unless I’m mistaken, just about all of the footage in this trailer is brand new. It focuses very heavily on Paul Atriedes (Timothée Chalamet) and his lover Chani (Zendaya), which feels just about right. There are a lot of characters in Dune, but those two are very much at the heart of this part of the story. Zendaya only appeared in seven minutes of the Villeneuve’s first Dune movie, which was an upgrade from how much Chani appears in the first half of Frank Herbert’s novel. Expect to see a lot more of her from here on out.

We also get a better look at Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan and Christopher Walken as her father, Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV. Here’s Pugh in what I can only define as some very unfortunate yet shiny headgear:

Shaddam Corrino IV is none too happy to hear that Paul Atriedes survived the Harkonnen coup in the first movie and is stirring up trouble on Arrakis. We see him request assassins be sent after Paul, followed by some chilling new footage of Austin Butler as the psychotic Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen.

Really, just about every shot in this trailer is arresting in some way or other. There’s a feeling that Villeneuve and the rest of the team making this movie went all out to pay homage to the iconic source material using their own distinct brand of striking visuals. Just look at this shot of Rebecca Ferguson as Paul’s mother, Lady Jessica:

Or this one of the Fremen leader Stilgar (Javier Bardem) leading his people through the dunes of Arrakis:

Or this one of Paul and Chani, kissing on the dunes of Arrakis:

Or this one of sandworms CRASHING THROUGH THE DUNES OF ARRAKIS:

There’s a grandeur and spectacle to Dune: Part Two that comes across so well in this trailer. The more I see of this movie, the more excited I get. Streamers may have trained viewers to expect new movies to hit their home screens much faster than they used to, but I have a feeling people are still going to flock to theaters for this one.

Dune: Part Two is scheduled to release on March 1, 2024.

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