Dune: Part Three trailer — the hero and the poison

I shared the teaser back in March, but the official trailer has me thinking about Paul in a different way.

I first read Dune in CÉGEP, and it felt unlike any science fiction I’d encountered. The closest comparison I had was Asimov’s Foundation trilogy, though even that didn’t prepare me for what Herbert was doing with religion, politics and the weight of a single person’s destiny.

In Villeneuve’s first two films, it’s easy to see Paul Muad’Dib Atreides as the hero. The Harkonnens destroyed his family and oppressed the Fremen. Of course you want to see them brought down. What fascinates me about this trailer is that it lets the poison inside Paul’s messiah story come into view. I’m eager to see how far Villeneuve takes that turn.

I loved Parts One and Two, so yes, I’m excited for this one. I’m also waiting on my limited Portfolio Edition of Dune: The Storyboards, which I backed late last year. If it arrives around March 2027 as expected, I’ll get to revisit the whole trilogy through the storyboards, artwork and proofs. First, though, I want to see where Paul’s story ends on screen.

December 18th can't come soon enough...

Dune Part Three: Darker, bigger, and exactly what was needed

The teaser for Dune: Part Three — the final chapter in Denis Villeneuve's trilogy — dropped yesterday.  I've been watching it over and over, trying to pick up every hint and detail buried in those two and a half minutes. If this teaser trailer and the first two films are any indication, we're in for a hell of a ride. What an epic finale this will surely be!

Despite what some will say, I'm not usually one to go full fanboy, but I'll make an exception here. 

Villeneuve's adaptation of the Dune universe has been close to perfection — though honestly, after Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, I shouldn't be surprised. The man knows how to make magnificent cinema. But even Villeneuve would be the first to admit that none of this works without Frank Herbert's brilliance on the page. This pulls me right back to cracking open that first Dune paperback in college (what we call CÉGEP here in Québec) and realizing I'd found something different — a universe so layered with political intrigue and backstory that it felt less like science fiction and more like something that actually happened, or would in humankind's far future. 

That's a long way from the almost comical early adaptations we endured on both the big screen and television.

And now we're getting Messiah.