At an early viewing for the trailer of “Dune: Part Three”, the film’s director/writer/producer Denis Villeneuve was also present for an exclusive moderated conversation with online creator Reece Feldman (@guywithamoviecamera on TikTok and Instagram).
The event began with an introduction clip from the star of the film series, Timothée Chalamet, where he highlighted the work that has gone into each of the films “with an in-development process that started in the mid-teens, a production process that started in 2018, and over 150 production days across the three films at large”. Chalamet calls this third film a “true act of cinema” and thanked Villeneuve for his dedication in bringing each film in this trilogy to life.
COMING BACK TO DUNE AFTER PART TWO
Kicking off the conversation, Feldman noted that Villeneuve had previously mentioned not being sure about diving right back into the world of Dune and would possibly take some time off or even want to make another film. But evidently, he came back for “Dune: Part Three” even quicker than some people might’ve thought, so the first question was why.
Villeneuve pointed out the timing of the release for the first film had in a way bottled up audience’s excitement into the release of “Part Two” that in turn really highlighted the enthusiasm and fervor for “Dune” that in turn stirred something in him as well.
“When we released “Part One”, it was at the end of the pandemic. I was not really in contact with the audience. And when we released “Part Two”, I received that wave of excitement and love from “Part One”. And people wanted to see “Part Two” [with] the way the movie was received everywhere in the world,” Villeneuve said.
“When we screened the movie first in Mexico, there were 14,000 people outside the theater and 5,000 people inside. It was that kind of a roller coaster around the world where we saw excitement and I felt an appetite for the third movie that I was not expecting.”
That appetite turned into a desire to finish the story despite telling crew members that he would be taking a break.
“I felt when you as a filmmaker, when you make a series of movies, you are in a relationship with the audience. And I felt a responsibility to finish the story. I went back home, I said to my crew ‘I’m taking a break, that’s it, bye bye,’” Villeneuve said.
“And I went back home and I kept waking in the middle of the night with those images. I was supposed to do another movie in the meantime, but the image of “Dune: Part Three” inspired by “Dune: Messiah” kept coming back, kept coming back, and I said ‘oh, all right, I’ll do it’.”
SETTING UP DUNE: PART THREE
Feldman then asked what Villeneuve could share about the upcoming film, given that the filmmaker keeps things under wraps and very little gets out from the set.
“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 the idea not to be self-indulgent. And I said to my team that it’ll be a very different film, a Dune movie, but with a different tone, with a different rhythm, with a different pace,” Villeneuve said.
“And if the first film was more of a contemplation like a boy exploring a new world, and the second one being a war movie, this one is a thriller. It’s a more action-packed and more dense film, more muscular than two others, I would say.”
Villeneuve later confirms the time jump in “Dune: Part Three” to be 17 years, which makes sense for a full inclusion of Anya Taylor-Joy as Alia Atreides, a character who has only been seen previously as an infant briefly in “Dune” and as an adult in a cameo appearance in “Dune: Part Two”.
“There’s a time gap, 17 years, where 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 will follow people trying to overthrow him, and it’s quite an intense story,” Villeneuve said. “But at the heart, it’s still a love story. The heartbeat of the film is still the relationship between Paul and Chani.”
With Linus Sandgren taking over as the film’s director of photography, replacing Greig Fraser from the previous two films (due to commitments to other projects), Villeneuve was asked about other changes for the film as it is a departure from the first two.
“The thing is that the world changed in those years. The climate is different in Arrakis, it’s still a desert planet, but there are differences. We are visiting new sets, new places. I brought the camera to areas of the planet that you guys have not seen before and that we are visiting a new planet as well. I wanted to approach this with a new pair of eyes and I approached my dear friend Linus, the cinematographer, and both of us decided to shoot most of the movie on film.”
In addition to shooting on film, Villeneuve added that shooting in IMAX and digital IMAX was also a deliberate decision.
“A big part was also shot in IMAX film, first time for me. But I kept the desert in digital because I like the brutality of the digital IMAX, so the movie’s really an IMAX experience and to be seen on the biggest screen possible.”
With a 17 year timeskip, one of the immediate challenges of the production had to be changing these characters in a way to make their actors look 17 years older.
“Aging actors is more tricky. I decided to go with more in a subtle way in front of the camera, where I worked with Heike Merker, one of the best makeup artists in the world, and we worked hard to bring these characters [and] make them travel through time.”
ARRIVAL OF ROBERT, ANYA, JAVIER, ZENDAYA (AND MORE?)
To the surprise and delight of audience members in attendance, partway through the conversation Villeneuve welcomed four of the cast members: Robert Pattinson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Javier Bardem, and Zendaya.
“I decided to bring some people that I deeply love with me. The movie needed some kind of mystery and danger, and for that I thought Robert Pattinson would be a great Scytale Face Dancer. Also “Dune: Part Three” requires madness with wisdom, a different kind of madness, and for that Anya Taylor-Joy. And there’s no “Dune” movie without the warmth and the humanity and the wisdom of an old Fremen warrior played by Javier Bardem. And finally, the heartbeat of the movie, a character I deeply love, played by Zendaya.”
As one of the actors who has been a part of all three films, Zendaya expressed her gratitude as well as her excitement for audiences.
“This movie or these movies have meant so much to me over the years. I’ve literally been able to grow up in my entire twenties doing them. And so they have a special place in my heart and all these people do as well. I’m very excited [and] very grateful to be a part of it.”
Florence Pugh then appeared in a video message with a question for Zendaya: “At the end of the last movie, you ran away. I got Paul. Where are you now? Are you still mad at me? Do you kind of like me? What do you like? I just want to know all of those.”
“Well, I want to start by saying I love Florence Pugh, so talented and so wonderful in this role. And we said the last time [during] the press tour, we only got one scene together [and] we were far away. And I was like, I hope we get more. So I don’t want to tease anything, but she’s absolutely phenomenal. You guys will just have to see for yourself what happens because it’s quite the journey.”
Feldman then asked Bardem about where the 17 years had taken his character Stilgar.
“Well, I think it takes him to a place where he sees different realities of what being in power means after so long, and he’s in this contradiction between the loyalty to the idea that he strongly fought [for] and believed back in the day, and also the result of the idea becoming something that he thinks or feels that it may not be,” Bardem said. “It’s a great analogy about the idea of power and having the power and then Stilgar is there in that contradiction.”
Noting Alia’s appearance in the movie poster, Feldman asked Taylor-Joy about what drives her character.
“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 all, 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,” Taylor-Joy explained.
“He’s understood her from before she was even born, and she will do anything for him… to various degrees of insanity.”
Pattinson was asked about the experience of joining the world of Dune and meeting with Denis.
“It’s just incredible. I absolutely adored these movies. I saw them multiple times in the theaters and I think I was talking to you [Zendaya] on the set of “The Drama.” I was like how can I get in one of those Dune movies? And it was a very unexpected call a few months later, and I did think you had something to do with it. I just think there’s such a towering achievement at the cast, so incredible, and everyone wants to work with Denis. He’s just a master and it’s when you see the scope and scale and ambition of these movies, like on set, you get why they feel like this on the screen. It’s just extraordinary and an amazing experience I’ve had.
Pattinson plays Scytale, a fan favorite from the books, and was then asked about his character’s function in the story as well as what drives him.
“He’s an unusual character in the book. You can’t really tell whose side he’s on. That’s kind of what makes him quite interesting. I wouldn’t say he was a kind of conventional, bad guy as such. I don’t think he is. He might even be a good guy. Who knows. I will also find out when I see the film. But yeah, it’s an extremely fun character to play and the look for it is quite incredible, extraordinary.”
And there was one last video message, this time from Jason Momoa returning to “Dune: Part Three” as Duncan Idaho who asked “Denis, why’d you kill me off in the first one and why am I back now?”
“Duncan was killed in the first one and suddenly it seems that he comes back in the third. Frank Herbert genius. The idea is that he created that kind of tremendous charismatic character that our heart was broken seeing him falling in the first one, and then was the desire to see him back,” Villeneuve said.
“And he comes back just at the right moment in the story. It’s a very important comeback, Paul is struggling with his identity and having that kind of strong Atreides figure coming back from the past will have a tremendous impact.”
HANS ZIMMER, A PERSONAL STORY, AND THE IMPACT OF FILM
He also confirmed that Hans Zimmer will be returning to score the film.
“Hans is working on the music already and he’s scoring, but it’s going to be like the movie is different, the score would be different. It’s something that Hans is very excited about and with the same spirit as the two first films.”
The source material for the film comes from the second novel in the book series, “Dune Messiah” and Villeneuve considers it his favorite book in the series.
“It’s a very dark book, a beautiful book. I will say this, [“Dune: Part Three”] is one of my most personal films, if not my most personal film. It’s a film that is very close to me and very contemporary.”
Villeneuve then elaborated on why this work is so personal to him.
“It is about the story of Paul and Chani, they’re struggling with their relationship, having the burden and incredible pressure from the world around them. And Paul has to find a way out of the cycle of violence and there’s something about the way their love and their time and the way their relationship evolved. That study on the relationship of all characters is very personal to me.”
And when it comes to the theatrical viewing experience, Villeneuve recommends IMAX.
“I value IMAX because it is the most immersive format. And at the end of the day, cinema is an art form that is meant to make you travel, make you experience things that you will not live in a regular life. And the idea of those stories is to make you feel experiencing things that will bring something new in your life in some ways.”
He even quotes German Wim Wenders in highlighting the important impact film can have on our real lives.
“It’s Wim Wenders who says ‘a great film is a film that makes you want to kick a ball when you get out of the theater and play football or something’, it’s the idea that cinema is linked with life. But at the end of the day, I think as human beings it’s important to share experience, to have common experiences,” Villeneuve said.
“Our lives right now, we are in our little bubbles all around the world. I think that theater, some sports events, or concerts bring us together and there’s something beautiful and human about that. It’s very important.”
The conversation concluded with Villeneuve providing an update on the status of the film in regards to completion.
“It’s cooking, it’s going well. The movie’s alive. The movie is mostly done in the editing room, but the visual effects of those movies are not small and require a lot of post-production. So we’re at full speed in post-production and after this, I’m running out to the editing room again.”
Catch “Dune: Part Three” in theaters on December 18, 2026.
