Dune: Everything You Need to Know About the Sci-Fi Movie Before Watching

Dune: Everything You Need to Know About the Sci-Fi Movie Before Watching

In terms of classic sci-fi book to movie adaptations, it’s hard to get bigger than Dune.

Frank Herbert’s iconic novel has seen its fair share of big-screen attempts, including a film from David Lynch. But this next live-action Dune adaptation will be one of the biggest yet.

Here’s what you need to know about the new Dune movie now that it’s finally in Aussie cinemas.

What’s Dune all about?

Dune is a sci-fi epic that spans multiple planets, families, religions and political systems in the distant future.

This is what you can expect in the movie, based on Warner Bros’ synopsis:

A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people.

As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

There’s also giant sandworms, but more on that in the trailer.

Dune trailer

We’ve been treated to a couple of sneak peeks when it comes to Dune. Check out the trailers below.

A handful of photos from the film have begun to trickle out, also.

We also have a glimpse of a fight scene between Timothée Chalamet and Josh Brolin. Vanity Fair dropped the Dune clip on its website and shared a piece of it to Instagram as well.

In it, you see Chalamet and Brolin go head to head in a futuristic knife fight. And it’s pretty impressive stuff. Check out the clip below:

If you’re interested in seeing the full scene, you can find it on Vanity Fair here, along with insights into the film from director Denis Villeneuve.

Villeneuve told Vanity Fair of Chalamet’s Dune character, Paul Atreides, “The most important thing about Paul is that he’s trying to find his place in the world.”

“Paul is supposed to be a wise one, someone that is older than his age in his mind, but still has the body of a 16-year-old.”

It’s a blockbuster in two parts

Anyone who’s read Dune will know that it’s quite the hefty tome.

It’s for this reason that the novel has been split into two films. Dune Part One will be released later in 2021 and will cover roughly the first half of the book.

The second movie has officially been greenlit and will hit cinemas in 2023 so make sure you catch this one before then.

The excitement doesn’t stop there because Legendary Television is also working on a prequel TV series titled Dune: Sisterhood. The series will follow the mysterious order of women known as the Bene Gesserit in the years leading up to Dune.

Who’s in the cast?

dune movie 2021
Dune. Image: Supplied

The A-list cast of Dune is almost as long as the book itself, so prepare yourself.

In the role of the hero with the excellent sci-fi name (Paul) is Timothée Chalamet. Joining him is the all-star cast including Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Jason Momoa Dave Bautista, Charlotte Rampling, Stephen Mckinley Henderson, Chang Chen, David Dastmalchian, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, and Javier Bardem.

I’m not sure the Academy has enough Oscars to go around for that lot.

Oh, wait, one more. In the director’s chair is the visionary Denis Villeneuve, who has brought us epic sci-fi’s like Arrival and Blade Runner 2049.

Dune: Release Date

Dune had its global debut at the Venice Film Festival in September, but audiences had to wait a little longer to catch the film.

Like many films over the past year, the release date for Dune has been pushed back a number of times. In the US and other markets, it released on October 21.

Unfortunately, however, Dune’s theatrical release date in Australia was pushed back to December 2, 2021.

Now that day has finally arrived and you can head to your local cinema to catch Dune on the big screen!

Is the film worth your time?

The first round of reviews have started rolling out for Dune 2021 and so far, things are looking pretty great. On Rotten Tomatoes, the Tomatometer is currently sitting at an impressive 83%, with critics sharing their praise of the novel’s most recent adaptation.

Michael O’Sullivan of the Washington Post wrote that “Dune is somehow almost purely pleasurable, and rarely tedious, despite its gargantuan running time and minor imperfections” and Glen Weldon of NPR shared that “Dune plays itself out with an assured confidence that encourages you to settle in for the long (2 hours and 35 minutes!) haul – and eagerly (!) await Part Two”.

So, in short – the film is ticking a lot of boxes. Who’s ready?

This article has been updated since its original publish date.


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