That Dune: Part Two ended with a shot of Chani says almost everything you need to know about where Denis Villeneuve is taking the sci-fi franchise. The Fremen warrior, played by Zendaya, and Paul Atreides were in love, but when Paul agreed to marry Princess Irulan, it was Chani’s betrayal, not Paul’s triumph, that Villeneuve found most compelling.
That storyline, one that was nowhere near as prevalent in Frank Herbert’s original Dune books, will continue in a big way when Dune: Part Three comes to theaters on December 18. “You know, at the end of the second film, Chani is obviously feeling a sense of betrayal towards Paul and how the relationship has crumbled,” Timothée Chalamet, who plays Paul, said at the Dune: Part Three trailer launch this week. “And I think, without giving too much away, in the third film it’s sort of Denis’ mastery and weaving in storylines that weren’t explicit in the book, and perhaps where, I would say, Denis took the most creative liberty. But it really ties the story together, and Zendaya, as you guys see in that trailer, gives such a fantastic performance in this, as usual.”
The new trailer does keep the focus on Chani, whose story in the book Dune: Part Three is based on, Dune Messiah, is pretty tragic. It’ll be interesting to see how and if those creative liberties Chalamet speaks of come into play in the film adaptation and what they mean for Chani, the Atreides family, and more.
Whatever the case, Chalamet could not stop heaping praise on his director. “I’m very grateful to this man,” he said. “He could have taken years between these projects, and instead, he buckled in, and we got it done right away. And I’m a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I’m trying to imagine the last time someone knocked out three things so consecutively. And just very grateful to Denis and in Denis we trust.”
Chalamet also spoke about how filming Dune: Part Three felt like a very transitional moment in his life. “This is the most emotive [movie] on a personal level, not necessarily the character, but I’ve been living with this for so long. I’m so proud to live with it. I’m so proud to work with Denis and this family. So I felt there was a finality in the exercise that I was kind of nostalgic about even the moment, even though I was 29 when we shot this, I still felt like I was losing a part of me by getting through it,” he said.
Dune: Part Three is in theaters December 18.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
