It’s time to return to Arrakis: Warner Bros. Pictures has unveiled the first teaser trailer for ‘Dune: Part Three,’ director Denis Villeneuve’s concluding chapter in the epic cinematic trilogy adapted from the landmark sci-fi novels by Frank Herbert.
Release Date: Dec 18, 2026
As you can see from viewing the trailer, ‘Dune: Part Three’ – which is due out on Dec. 18, 2026 and is based on Herbert’s second novel, ‘Dune Messiah’ – is just as immense and immersive a film experience as 2021’s ‘Dune’ and 2024’s ‘Dune: Part Two,’ both of which were nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards.
Just in these two minutes, the screen practically explodes with vast vistas of armies battling in the desert, spaceships rocketing through the void, and Paul ‘Muad’Dib’ Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), the leader of the Arrakis native people known as the Fremen and now emperor of the universe, facing not just the galactic war he has unleashed but the prospect of parenthood with the Fremen warrior Chani (Zendaya).
(L to R) Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, director Denis Villeneuve, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Javier Bardem at the Warner Bros. Pictures, trailer launch event of ‘Dune: Part Three’ at the AMC Century City 15, in Los Angeles, California, March 16, 2026.
In addition to Chalamet and Zendaya, cast members returning from the first two films include Josh Brolin (Gurney Halleck), Javier Bardem (Stilgar), Rebecca Ferguson (Lady Jessica), Florence Pugh (Princess Irulan), and Jason Momoa, who plays a somewhat different version of his deceased character, Duncan Idaho.
New cast members include Anya Taylor-Joy as Paul’s mysterious and powerful sister Alia, Isaach de Bankolè as Paul’s former personal fedaykin (commando) Farok, and Robert Pattinson as Scytale, a member of a secretive society known as the Tlielaxu who can mimic any other human’s identity and leads a conspiracy to assassinate Paul.
Moviefone was present as Denis Villeneuve, Zendaya, Pattinson, Bardem, and Taylor-Joy premiered the trailer for press at an event in Los Angeles, and here’s what we discovered from them about ‘Dune: Part Three.’
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1) Director Denis Villeneuve Says ‘Dune: Part Three’ Is A Different Movie From The First Two.
Director Denis Villeneuve at the Warner Bros. Pictures, trailer launch event of ‘Dune: Part Three’ at the AMC Century City 15, in Los Angeles, California, March 16, 2026.
Just as the book ‘Dune Messiah’ is not in the same vein as the first novel, ‘Dune,’ Denis Villeneuve hints that ‘Dune: Part Three’ charts its own path.
Denis Villeneuve: It happens many years later. It’s a very different movie from the first ones. I said to myself, it’s a good idea to come back to this world not by nostalgia, but by urgency, and to go there with a critical eye and not to be self-indulgent. I said to my team that it will be a very different film – a ‘Dune’ movie, but with a different tone, with a different rhythm, with a different base. If the first movie was more a contemplation of a boy exploring a new world, and the second one was a war movie, this one is a thriller. It’s more action-packed and more dense, more muscular than the others, I would say. It takes place many years after the first films — a bit like the book, ‘Dune Messiah’ – and gives us a new view of what has happened to Paul Atreides. It’s 17 years, and we see Paul dealing with the consequences of having too much power, and him trying to figure out how to get out of this cycle of violence. Of course, he’s an emperor who can see the future, so he’s kind of invincible, and we also follow people trying to overthrow him. It’s a quite intense story.
2) Zendaya got a pre-recorded question from Florence Pugh played for her at the trailer debut event.
Zendaya at the Warner Bros. Pictures, trailer launch event of ‘Dune: Part Three’ at the AMC Century City 15, in Los Angeles, California, March 16, 2026.
Zendaya and Florence Pugh didn’t share the screen much in ‘Dune: Part Two,’ where Pugh’s Princess Irulan was introduced, but the ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ star hints that they have more interaction in ‘Part Three.’
Zendaya: I love Florence Pugh. She’s so talented and so wonderful in this role. On the press tour the last time we were saying that we only got one scene together, and we were far away. So I was like, I hope we get more. I don’t want to tease anything, but she’s absolutely phenomenal and you guys will just have to see for yourself what happens, because it’s quite the journey. I’m so excited. I mean, these movies have meant so much to me over the years. I’ve literally been able to grow up in my entire 20s doing them, so they have such a special place in my heart, and all these people do as well. So I’m very excited and very grateful to be a part of it.
3) Javier Bardem Says His Character Stilgar Must Face Reality In ‘Dune: Part Three.’
Javier Bardem at the Warner Bros. Pictures, trailer launch event of ‘Dune: Part Three’ at the AMC Century City 15, in Los Angeles, California, March 16, 2026.
Javier Bardem’s Fremen fighter Stilgar becomes one of Paul’s most loyal soldiers and believers in the first two ‘Dune’ movies, championing him as the prophesized messiah of his people. But in ‘Dune: Part Three,’ the actor says, Stilgar finds himself in a ‘be careful what you wish for’ situation.
Javier Bardem: Well, I think it takes him to a place where he sees different realities of what being empowered means after so long. He’s in this contradiction between his loyalty to the idea that he strongly believed and fought for back in the day, and also the result of the idea becoming something that he feels may not be the thing that he dreamed about. It sounds complicated, but it’s also a complicated book, and it’s a great analogy about the idea of power and the reality of having that power, and Stilgar is there in that contradiction.
4) Anya Taylor-Joy’s Alia Is A Major Character In The Movie.
Anya Taylor-Joy at the Warner Bros. Pictures, trailer launch event of ‘Dune: Part Three’ at the AMC Century City 15, in Los Angeles, California, March 16, 2026.
Glimpsed briefly in ‘Dune: Part Two’ as both a yet-to-be-born baby and a young woman in a vision from the future, Alia Atreides – who has powerful psychic gifts of her own — becomes one of her older brother Paul’s most important allies in ‘Part Three.’
Anya Taylor-Joy: Alia has a very intense blessing/curse situation. She carries the weight and the wisdom of generations and generations in her head. She’s never in a singular conversation. It’s kind of everything everywhere, all at once. And the one thing that she really feels most strongly about is her love and devotion to her brother, because that is the only person who’s ever made her feel like she makes sense. He’s understood her from before she was even born, and she will do anything for him — to various degrees of insanity.
5) Robert Pattinson Thinks He Got The Job in ‘Dune’ Thanks To Zendaya.
(L to R) Robert Pattinson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Javier Bardem, Zendaya, and director Denis Villeneuve at the ‘Dune: Part Three’ trailer event. Photo: Jami Philbrick.
‘The Batman’ star Robert Pattinson is such a fan of the ‘Dune’ films that he asked Zendaya for advice on how to get involved. He ended up playing a shapeshifting, biologically mutated human called Scytale who is a central figure in a plot to overthrow Paul.
Robert Pattinson: It’s incredible. I absolutely adored these movies. I saw them multiple times in the theaters, and I think I was talking to [Zendaya] on the set of ‘The Drama’ and I was like, ‘How do I get in one of those “Dune” movies?’ And then I got a very unexpected call a few months later, and I kind of think [Zendaya] had something to do with it. But I just think they’re such a towering achievement and the cast is so incredible. I just think everybody wants to work with Denis. He’s a master. When do you see the scope and scale and ambition of these movies on set, you get why they feel like this on the screen. It’s an amazing experience.
Pattinson adds that his character, Scytale, was fascinating to play because his motivations and goals are ambiguous:
Robert Pattinson: He’s an unusual character in the book. I mean, you can’t really tell whose side he’s on, which is kind of what makes him quite interesting. I want to say he’s not a conventional bad guy as such. He might even be a good guy. Who knows? I will find out when I see the movie (laughs). It’s an extremely fun character to play, and the look for it is extraordinary.
(L to R) Robert Pattinson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Javier Bardem, Zendaya, and director Denis Villeneuve at the Warner Bros. Pictures, trailer launch event of ‘Dune: Part Three’ at the AMC Century City 15, in Los Angeles, California, March 16, 2026.
What is the plot of ‘Dune: Part Three’?
Defeating his enemies on Arrakis and becoming emperor of all known space, superhuman Fremen messiah Paul Atreides grapples with the consequences of unleashing a bloody galactic jihad, even as mysterious and powerful forces conspire to destroy him.
Who is in the cast of ‘Dune: Part Three’?
- Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides
- Zendaya as Chani
- Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan
- Anya Taylor-Joy as Alia Atreides
- Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica
- Robert Pattinson as Scytale
- Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho
- Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck
- Javier Bardem as Stilgar
- Isaach de Bankolé as Farok
- Nakoa-Wolf Momoa as Leto II Atreides
- Ida Brooke as Ghanima Atreides
‘Dune: Part Three’ opens on December 18th. Photo: Warner Bros.
List of Movies and TV Shows in the ‘Dune’ Franchise:
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Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure ‘Dune: Part Three,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
Zendaya as Chani in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure ‘Dune: Part Three,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
Jason Momoa as Hayt in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure ‘Dune: Part Three,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
Robert Pattinson as Scytale in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure ‘Dune: Part Three,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
Florence Pugh as Empress Irulan in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure ‘Dune: Part Three,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure ‘Dune: Part Three,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
Anya Taylor-Joy as Alia in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure ‘Dune: Part Three,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
A Scene from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure ‘Dune: Part Three,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
