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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
Fans of Denis Villeneuve and of Dune need not wait any longer, for we have finally gotten the first trailer to the upcoming epic science fiction project. Adapted from a 1965 novel by the late Frank Herbert, the French Canadian filmmaker’s newest masterpiece focuses on a young man named Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), who moves to the desert planet, Arrakis, with his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) and father Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac). Along with the company of Paul’s mentors Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin) and Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa), House Atreides oversees the mining of the unique spice known as melange, but when a betrayal transpires within Arrakeen at the hands of the enemy House Harkonnen, Paul and Lady Jessica have no choice but to flee into the desert areas and encounter the planet’s native people, the Fremen.
In this article, we conduct a breakdown on the first trailer to the film. Potential spoilers ahead for those wanting to see the film and/or have not yet read the source material!
Film score composer Hans Zimmer begins the trailer by setting the tone of the film.
Paul Atreides wakes up in Castle Caladan and tells Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam (Charlotte Rampling) a dream he had of him meeting a mysterious yet beautiful young woman (Zendaya) in a desert. He and his mother look from a distance at Arrakeen on fire. This could be at the beginning of the story when the betrayal comes, or when Paul and Lady Jessica return at a much later time to take back their newfound home.
The Reverend Mother asks him, “Do you often dream things that happen just as you dreamed them?”, which is nearly a precise line taken from the novel’s third chapter. This occurs after Paul’s Bene Gesserit test with the gom jobbar needle, which has a drop of poison at its tip meant to kill animals. Paul is to place one hand into a metal cube that gives him an intensifying burning sensation, all the while the Reverend Mother holds the needle to his neck. He is not to remove his hand from the box, for he is to feel pain.
Paul is leaving Caladan, but not before shield fighting with his mentor Gurney Halleck.
The boy and House Atreides move to Arrakeen on the desert planet Arrakis, where he reunites with Duncan Idaho.
The Reverend Mother, in a voice-over, says that “Arrakis is a death trap.” We get a glimpse at Fremen leader Stilgar, uncle of the mysterious young woman and a man whose eyes are all blue, with no whites in them. We also get a look at the Harkonnen army, Glossu Rabban (Dave Bautista), and his uncle Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) — the former occupant of Arrakis and current enemy of Paul’s father, Duke Leto. Rabban looks horrifying…
However, the Baron looks terribly worse!
A glimpse at House Atreides’s traitor, their Suk doctor Dr. Wellington Yueh (Chang Chen). He has been hired by the Baron in exchange for the life of the doctor’s captive wife, who — unbeknownst to him — is already dead.
As the Harkonnens are being introduced, Stilgar, Paul and some of his family are properly wearing their stillsuits, which are designed to live longer upon the desert planet. A breath of oxygen and generate drops of water, and a tube is connected to the nasal region.
Idaho is fighting off the enemy troops; and Paul meets Chani, the young Fremen woman from his dreams. A look at ornithopters (aircrafts capable of wing-beat flight in the manner of birds) and other aircraft. Paul is repeating fighting stances that Idaho had taught him before.
In an event before the betrayal, an Atreides aircraft is taking off as Halleck is holding onto Paul; they are rescuing Fremen workers just as a sandworm appears to engulf a melange harvester factory.
A glimpse at Arrakis’s Fremen planetary ecologist and Chani’s mother Dr. Liet-Kynes (Sharon Duncan-Brewster). In the novel, the character was a male and rather the young woman’s father. Blood on Duke Leto’s shoulder, perhaps from seeing Fremen housekeeper Shadout Mapes dying in the halls of Arrakeen, right before the Duke’s own betrayal happening at the hands of Yueh.
Paul tells an off-screen character: “The future…I can see it.” He and his mother fly a ‘thopter into a maelstrom, a clouding of dust and a dust-blanketed wind, as a means to escape from the Harkonnens a second time.
He then recites the Bene Gesserit Litany against Fear (although in this trailer the full litany is not shown): “Fear is the mind-killer … where the fear has gone … only I will remain.”
The best is saved for last: The first look at Villeneuve’s sandworm. Paul and his mother are running from one as dawn approaches.
This first trailer for Villeneuve’s newest film shows the best parts of the film without giving away in-depth detail of how events are to be played out. It is just a magnificent sight to see, and this first film only covers a good former half of the novel!
Are you excited for this film? What was your favorite part of the trailer? Have you read the novel? Let us know! For more Warner Brothers, Denis Villeneuve, and Dune-related news and reviews, follow The Cinema Spot on Twitter (@TheCinemaSpot) and Instagram (@thecinemaspot_).
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
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