‘Dune’ New Trailer: Timothée Chalamet and Denis Villeneuve Reveal Latest Look at Frank Herbert Epic
After many a pandemic delay, the release of Denis Villeneuve‘s “Dune” is finally in sight. Before the movie premieres in theaters and on HBO Max October 22, the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sprawling science-fiction classic will world-premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 3. Ahead of the release, watch the latest trailer released by Warner Bros. below.
Premiering out of competition in Venice, “Dune” stars Timothée Chalamet in his first leading blockbuster role as Paul Atreides, whose family acquires ownership of the dangerous desert planet Arrakis. The planet is home to the galaxy’s most valuable resource, a drug known as “spice,” which extends human life and gives its users superhuman abilities. By taking ownership of Arrakis, the Atreides family becomes an enemy of the rival Harkonnen empire and the planet’s natives, known as the Fremen.
Starring opposite Chalamet in “Dune” are Oscar Isaac, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, Charlotte Rampling, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Javier Bardem, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, Sharon Duncan Brewster, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Chang Chen, and David Dastmalchian. The script was written by Villeneuve (this is his first film since 2017’s “Blade Runner 2049”), Jon Spaihts, and Eric Roth.
“Dune” was originally supposed to open in November 2020 before Warner Bros. switched up the release plan several times. Reports emerged that Legendary, which financed 75 percent of the film’s budget, was battling the studio over the switch to a hybrid streaming release plan on HBO Max. But Warner Bros. is sticking to the day-and-date release pattern that has so far served films including “Godzilla vs. Kong,” the latest “Conjuring” installment, and “In the Heights.” Villeneuve, meanwhile, wrote in an essay slamming Warner Bros.’ decision that moving “Dune” to streaming could kill his desired franchise, as a second movie is planned to follow the October 22 entry.
“There is absolutely no love for cinema, nor for the audience here,” Villeneuve said of the HBO Max decision. “It is all about the survival of a telecom mammoth, one that is currently bearing an astronomical debt of more than $150 billion. Therefore, even though ‘Dune’ is about cinema and audiences, AT&T is about its own survival on Wall Street. With HBO Max’s launch a failure thus far, AT&T decided to sacrifice Warner Bros.’ entire 2021 slate in a desperate attempt to grab the audience’s attention.”
