First Look At Denis Villeneuve's Dune Has Us Excited

Courtesy of Vanity Fair, Denis Villeneuve has revealed our first-ever look at his upcoming feature adaptation of Frank Herbert's epic sci-fi yarn Dune.

The still shows Paul Atreides (played by Timothée Chalamet) on an overcast beach on his home planet of Caladan, where the first act of the story takes place. Behind him are three approaching transport ships. It's not clear whether this is actually a shot from the film, or a separate promotional still. The article elaborates that tomorrow it will provide "an even more expansive exploration of Villeneuve’s quest to bring Dune to the screen."

Herbert's 1965 novel was the first in a series of five. It followed the journey of Paul, the youngest member of an aristocratic family in the far-flung future, who is suddenly relocated to the desert planet Arrakis (a.k.a. Dune) when his father is ceded control of the world from their long-time enemies, the Harkonnens. Paul quickly gets swept up in the backroom political machinations of the two families and the Imperial House they both hold fealty to, as well as the native Fremen of Arrakis who help defend its priceless natural resources. By the story's end, Paul has joined the Fremen as a messianic warrior who leads them against the Harkonnen and the corrupt Emperor.

Interviewed about the project and his character, Chalamet said "The immediately appealing thing about Paul was the fact that in a story of such detail and scale and world-building, the protagonist is on an anti-hero’s-journey of sorts. He thinks he’s going to be sort of a young general studying his father and his leadership of a fighting force before he comes of age, hopefully a decade later, or something like that."

Reactions to the image have so far been mixed, with some commentators on social media admonishing the dark and muted color scheme.

Some have noted the image's similarities to the infamous 1984 adaptation by David Lynch, which while a critical and commercial failure was highly influential in defining the series visual aesthetic in non-book media for years to come.

And of course, the memes have already begun to flow:

Denis Villeneuve's film will be the third adaptation of Herbert's novel, preceded by the 1984 film and 2000 television miniseries aired on the Syfy channel. The film is set to be the first of a two-part adaptation, with the second film presumably entering production some time next year. The screenplay is by Villeneuve, Eric Roth, and Jon Spaihts. Opposite Chalamet, the cast includes Rebecca Ferguson (Lady Jessica), Oscar Isaac (Duke Leto), Josh Brolin (Gurney Halleck), Stellan Skarsgård (Baron Harkonnen), Dave Bautista (Rabban), Zendaya (Chani), David Dastmalchian (De Vries), Charlotte Rampling (Gaius Helen Mohiam), Jason Momoa (Duncan Idaho), Javier Bardem (Stilgar), and Chang Chen (Dr. Yueh).

Villeneuve is producing the film with Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. It is set to be released in the United States on December 18, 2020. A spin-off prequel television series, Dune: The Sisterhood, is also planned for HBO Max.