(Image: Empire)
In just two months, the third chapter in the "Dune" saga, "Dune: Part Three," will go head-to-head with "Avengers: Doomsday" when both films hit theaters on the same day. The latest promotional push arrived last night, with British film magazine Empire unveiling several exclusive covers and brand-new stills from the movie below.
Back in the director’s chair for the third time, Denis Villeneuve has repeatedly said this will be his final "Dune" movie and that he has no plans to adapt the later novels. In a new interview with Empire, the filmmaker admitted he has grown tired of the franchise and is eager to move on to the next James Bond film. “I thought that perhaps returning for a third movie was a good idea—not out of nostalgia or because I missed it, but for exactly the opposite reason: I was tired of it. I wanted to make sure I remained demanding of the source material and never became complacent. I thought, ‘When this is over, I’ll need a very powerful rocket to pull me away from Arrakis.’ Then, when I was asked to direct the next Bond movie, I thought, ‘That’s the rocket I need.’”
(Image: Empire)
Villeneuve also described "Dune: Part Three" as a radical departure from its predecessors in both story and style—one that plays more like a movie about divorce. “This film explores a deeply human subject: separation, or divorce. I have personal experience with all of that, and the novel "Dune Messiah" gave me an opportunity to explore the idea of a broken family.”
"Dune: Part Three" opens in North American theaters on December 18. Returning cast members include Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, Anya Taylor-Joy as Alia Atreides, Javier Bardem as Stilgar, Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, Zendaya as Chani and Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, who has been resurrected as a ghola. New additions include Robert Pattinson as the villainous Scytale, Ida Brooke as Paul’s daughter Ghanima Atreides and Nakoa-Wolf Momoa—Jason Momoa’s son—as Paul’s son Leto II Atreides.