First Dune: Part Three Trailer Reveals A New Look For Timothée Chalamet's Paul Atreides

Denis Villeneuve's "Dune: Part Two" is an excellent sci-fi sequel that gets the spice flowing. The second entry was more than good enough to put minds at ease about whether or not Frank Herbert's classic tale can really work as a series of high-profile films. It also stacked expectations sky high for the next movie in line, which is coming to cineplexes this holiday season.

The ornithopter-flying, sandworm-riding franchise is set to become a trilogy on December 18, 2026, with all the cast members you'd expect to be back returning for more, including Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Zendaya as Chani, Javier Bardem as Stilgar, Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, Anya Taylor-Joy as Alia Atreides, and, of course, Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides.

Jason Momoa is also set to appear as Hayt (essentially a clone of his character Duncan Idaho, who died in the first film), and Robert Pattinson joins the cast as the villainous Scytale. Isaach De Bankolé is another newcomer as the Fremen Farok. Now, the first trailer for Villeneuve's eagerly awaited third "Dune" installment is finally here, giving us our first glimpse at what he has in store for us.

The ending of "Dune: Part Two" left things in (slightly) less of a cliffhanger state than the first movie did. Paul Atreides finally enters full Lisan al-Gaib messiah mode and takes command of the Fremen, which spells trouble for both House Harkonnen and the Empire at large. He moves to take the imperial throne by marrying Emperor Shaddam IV's (Christopher Walken) daughter Princess Irulan, which gets lots of pushback from multiple fronts — not least from Paul's Fremen love interest Chani — and leads to a deadly duel between him and Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler, who trained so hard that he threw up).

The state of play going into "Dune: Part Three" is that Chani is furious with Paul (she refused to bow to him and prepared to take off on her own) and Paul has kicked off a holy war over his ascendancy. It seems clear that things aren't going to be straightforward for him as he attempts to square his prophesied fate with his personal life. As the trailer shows, the third "Dune" film will very much keep the series' epic space opera themes intact while adding new and interesting elements to the ever-evolving story.

"Dune: Part Three" arrives in theaters on December 18, 2026.