The first trailer of Dune: Part Three is expected to arrive soon, giving us our first look at the final installment in Denis Villeneuve's masterpiece trilogy. And while we still don't know specific details about the plot, it's expected to be based on Frank Herbert's second novel, Dune Messiah.
With the trailer presumably right around the corner, Dune star Timothée Chalamet, as part of Variety and CNN's town hall event with Matthew McConaughey, briefly talked about the highly anticipated movie. While staying clear of plot details, Chalamet did briefly touch on the overall tone of the film, calling it "the eeriest" of the three movies.
Revealing some of the inspirations behind his portrayal of Paul Atreides in the Dune movie trilogy, Chalamet listed McConaughey, Heath Ledger, and Marlon Brando.
“What I think you see at the end of the second one, and across the third one, is yourself in ‘Interstellar’ and Heath Ledger in ‘The Dark Knight’ and Marlon Brando in ‘Apocalypse Now’ and stuff like that. Actually, wait, let me rephrase all of that! Hold up. I cannot put myself in that same boat. Let’s just say, it’s these big movies where you could sneak in something. A curveball.”
Chalamet also named fellow co-star Oscar Isaac, who played Paul's father Leto Atreides in the first Dune movie, as an inspiration.
“He treated it in a Shakespearean way — to play it heightened and not really care about it being heightened," Chalamet said, explaining that watching Isaac encouraged him to take "more liberty than ever."
“I felt kind of thrown by the futurism,” Chalamet said of his experience filming the first movie. “I was coming off ‘Beautiful Boy’ and ‘Call Me by Your Name’ and movies that were a lot more naturalistic, and this was a huge movie, so I felt intimidated. But especially on this third one, all the great shit you see on screen is from freedom of movement and freedom of choice. And with Denis, we really had a good rhythm. It’s the eeriest one. It’s a big swing.”
Anyone familiar with Dune Messiah can understand why Timothée Chalamet describes the third film as the eeriest chapter yet. Set 12 years after the events of Dune: Part Two, Paul Atreides now rules as Emperor of the Known Universe. But with a holy war spreading across the galaxy in his name, billions dead from the Fremen crusade, and powerful factions conspiring against him, Paul is no longer merely a warrior hero, he is a haunted ruler, trapped by prophecy and the devastating consequences of his own rise.
Elsewhere in the interview, Chalamet also touched on the sci-fi technology, comparing his experience on Dune: Part Three to the first movie.
“On the first ‘Dune,’ we had an ornithopter sequence that I got a chance to do again in the third, but this time I was way more geared up. On ‘Dune 3,’ as opposed to the first movie, I came out early and studied the control panel — all sorts of hieroglyphics and things that aren’t tethered to reality. I wanted to know what each button did, and invent a dynamic for myself with it.”
Dune: Part Three is currently scheduled to hit theaters on December 18, 2026.