The 2026 movie schedule has already had some bangers, but man, I think I just found my official most-anticipated of the bunch for the second half of the year now that we have a fresh trailer for Dune: Part Three We just got the most epic look at Denis Villeneuve’s trilogy finale yet, and it has me thinking about what dark arc is on the horizon for Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides. Thankfully, the actor himself shed some light on what’s coming.
CinemaBlend attended Dune: Part 3’s global fan event at the AMC Burbank in Los Angeles, CA on Wednesday morning. We were among the first to see the movie’s new trailer along with witnessing an exclusive conversation between Villeneuve and Timothée Chalamet. Check out the trailer here:
Y’all, the chills I had seeing this in IMAX with an audience! I’m not going to be OK after this movie… and I cannot wait. The new footage really focuses on the fallout of Dune: Part 2, where Paul broke the heart of Zendaya’s Chani by deciding to marry Florence Pugh’s Princess Irulan. He did so to take the throne as the Padishah Emperor – officially choosing power and war over anything else.
It certainly seems like Paul is going to the dark side here, so I’m happy that the event’s moderator Brittany Broski asked Chalamet if Paul is stepping into his “villain” era now. Here’s how the Oscar-nominated actor responded:
I hope it’s more nuanced than that. I think it’s one of the great things in Frank Herbert’s book. It’s why he wrote Messiah as a follow-up to the first book because people misread Paul as a classic hero, and he wanted to warn the world what can happen when people blindly follow leaders, and even the good can be corrupted.
The writing was on the wall in Dune: Part Two that Paul maybe wasn’t going to be the hero of this story anymore, and in Part Three the ramifications of this will all come to a head. The trailer also sets up what’s going on with Robert Pattinson’s role of Scytale, who decides to execute a plot to dethrone Paul and involve the Princess.
I also think the trailer insinuates that Chani may actually be the one to go head-to-head with the Emperor by the end of the movie after things have gone bitter between them. Chalamet also said this about what’s going on with Paul and Chani during the event:
At the end of the second film, Chani is feeling a sense of betrayal toward Paul and how the relationship has crumbled. And I think, without giving too much away, I think it’s Denis’s mastery of weaving in storylines that weren’t explicit in the book, and perhaps I would say where Denis took the most creative liberty. But it really ties the story together and Zendaya, as you see in that trailer, gives such a fantastic performance in this as usual.
Part Three‘s main plotline takes place a couple decades after the second movie, and also features Anya Taylor-Joy as Paul’s sister, Alia. The franchise newcomer has called the role “very intense” and I can see why. While the first Dune: Part Three trailer got me excited, this second one has me moving the movie to the top of my list of 2026 movies I’m hyped for. A big part of that is Paul’s nuanced arc across the trilogy being concluded. I mean, and this new poster? Check it:
During the event, we were also treated to an exclusive look at the opening of Dune: Part 3, which will be playing in front of IMAX screenings of The Odyssey next weekend. It had Javier Bardem’s Stilgar and some other men being thrust into an intense battle sequence in the rain. I’d imagine he’s operating under the orders of Paul after embracing him as the messianic Lisan al-Gaib at the end of Dune: Part 2. It doesn’t show the whole battle sequence, so now I’m left wanting to watch the whole thing.
We’ll have to wait for the final Dune film until December 18!