It may not seem like any movies will ever release again, but Dune is coming, an ironic fact given the property’s struggles for successful adaptation over the decades since it was first written. However, if anyone is going to do it, Denis Villeneuve, the man who pulled off a Blade Runner sequel, is probably the person.
Now we have a first look (above) at what he’s created with an image of Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides strolling along the beach on his home planet of Caladan. In the background are transport ships set to take Paul and his family to Arrakis, where they control a mining operation that produces spice, a substance the entire universe depends on. The muted colors and real-world feel of the shot is trademark Villeneuve and should lend a certain reality to the science fiction film that could finally make Dune work on the big screen.
The story of Dune is long and complex, full of political intrigue and involving royal houses that vie for the control of spice. Paul Atreides is the royal son of the leaders of House Atreides and is in training with a veteran soldier named Gurney Halleck, played by Josh Brolin. However, with another wealthy family, House Harkonnen, looking to take over the control of spice, things get complicated. Chalamet stated that he liked the complexity of the novels and his character.
“The immediately appealing thing about Paul was the fact that in a story of such detail and scale and world-building, the protagonist is on an anti-hero’s-journey of sorts,” Chalamet said. “He thinks he’s going to be sort of a young general studying his father and his leadership of a fighting force before he comes of age, hopefully a decade later, or something like that.”
Dune, for now, will land on December 18, 2020. The sequel for the film and a spin-off TV show are also in the works.
