Update: Dune has officially been delayed to October 1, 2021, Warner Bros. has confirmed.
Frank Herbert’s epic Dune has fascinated multiple generations and storytellers, from David Lynch to Alejandro Jodorowsky to, now, Denis Villeneuve. The Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival director continues his sci-fi streak with a two-part adaptation, and today the debut trailer for the first half arrives ahead of an October 2021 release.
Starring Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, the story follows his family’s journey to take stewardship of a treacherous new planet named Arrakis where they must contend with warring factions, giant sandworms, and the true meaning of loyalty and destiny. The epic ensemble also includes Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem.
“I’m a big David Lynch fan, he’s the master,” Villeneuve recently told Empire. “When I saw [Lynch]’s Dune I remember being excited, but his take… there are parts that I love and other elements that I am less comfortable with. So it’s like, I remember being half-satisfied. That’s why I was thinking to myself, ‘There’s still a movie that needs to be made about that book, just a different sensibility.’” While Lynch himself won’t be seeing Villeneuve’s adaptation, we’re certainly excited to see what this new two-part take has in store.
Check out the trailer below, along with an hour-long conversation with the director on his adaptation.
A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.
Dune opens on October 1, 2021.