The long awaited trailer to the new Dune movie has finally been released online. Due for cinematic release in December, Dune is the latest screen adaptation of Frank Herbert’s critically acclaimed novel of the same name. It has already been adapted for cinema before, by David Lynch, back in 1984, but that incarnation was not well received. The only other adaptations to date comprise a couple of TV mini-series just following the turn of the millennium, but the novel of Dune is touted by many as a seminal and accomplished work of science fiction, even having been a primary source of inspiration for Star Wars. For this reason, unbeknown to the masses, film makers have been desperately attempting, and failing, to re-imagine Dune for cinema for years, having been plagued by various issues along the way; director Denis Villenueve (Arrival, Blade Runner 2049) has finally managed what many have failed to do so before him. Has Villenueve managed to do the source material justice, and will it have been worth the wait? Clearly, not a huge amount of information can be gleaned from the trailer, and we’ll have to wait until December to know the answer to those questions for sure, but there is still enough there to make some observations.
First a quick highlight of what Dune actually is about, considering not many will be all that familiar. Dune is set thousands of years from now in the distant future, and follows teenage Paul Atreides, a dukal heir, as his family relocates to a desert planet called Arrakis and assumes ownership of its industry. This planet, colloquially referred to as Dune, is the only source in the entire known universe of a precious substance called ‘spice’, which has unique properties that enable interstellar space travel and can also enable people to see visions of the future. Spice is mined from the desert sand on Arrakis, which is also home to gargantuan sand worms. Being the coveted resource that it is, Arrakis draws a lot of political attention and conflict. Paul is placed into the centre of this conflict as he simultaneously begins to discover unique powers within himself that propel him relentlessly towards an incredible destiny and fulfilment of an ancient prophecy.
So what insights do we get from the trailer that tells us how the new film will stack up against the source material and the original 1984 adaptation?
Shields
Personal shields, or force fields, are featured multiple times in the trailer. In the book, they are described as appearing like shimming air around a person when activated. Commonly used in combat, they deflect fast moving objects, but can be penetrated by slow movement. It’s great to see in the trailer that they look exactly as described in the book and should make for some really impressive fight sequences. VFX were simply not up to the task in 1984, with shields appearing in the 1984 film as opaque purple blocks that completely obscured the actors. Not great.
Weirding Way
One important and central theme within the Dune universe is the concept of ‘the Weirding Way’. This is a technique that uses expert discipline of the body and mind to effectively enable short distance teleportation for use in close quarter combat. In one of the literary sequels to Dune, the phrase, “my mind affects my reality”, is used to describe the underpinning principle of the technique. Due to VFX limitations at the time, director David Lynch completely changed the concept of the Weirding Way in his 1984 film to the use of focused sound as a weapon. Certainly a controversial decision. In 2020 however, with VFX being capable of putting almost anything imaginable onto the screen, there is no excuse not to include the proper concept of Weirding Way as described in the book. It is disappointing therefore, that there was no clear highlight of this in the trailer. That doesn’t mean that it will not be in the film – it has to be in some form unless Villeneuve takes a huge deviation from the source material as David Lynch did. It is possible that it is very fleetingly featured in the trailer however, at the 1:36 mark, literally for barely a second, although this may just be another shield fight – it’s impossible to tell. We can only hope for now that the new film will feature the Weirding Way properly, and do it justice.
Sand Worms
You can’t talk about Dune without talking about sand-worms. The truly enormous beasts can reach hundreds of metres in length and dominate the desert landscape of Arrakis, making it treacherous and often fatal to those who carelessly venture across it. We get a few looks at the sand-worms in the trailer, and a spectacular one at the end. What we’ve been shown so far is impressive and bodes well for the rest of the film. In the 1984 film, the worms looked similar (there’s not much room for variation in what a worm can look like), but were stop-motion animated rather than using CG, and so looked a lot more artificial.
Ornithopters
Another absence from the 1984 film was ornithopters, aircraft that use flapping wings to fly, rather than fixed-wing aircraft that we are accustomed to today, and are common throughout the Dune universe. There were of course, aircraft in the 1984 film, but they were not ornithopters. In the new trailer, we can clearly see ornithopters looking like giant dragonflies being used in some scenes. We therefore expect them to feature a lot throughout Villenueve’s film.
Characterisation
At the heart of Dune, stripping away all the science fiction technologies and environments, is a cast of strong and compelling characters. We obviously cannot yet understand how the characters of Dune are fully realised just from the trailer, but we can comment on how they look and at least how the actors appear to fulfil their roles. First up is Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides. In terms of appearance, Timothee’s turn certainly looks as described in the novel, and it does appear as though Villenueve has opted to go for a teenage version of Paul; in the novel, Paul is only 15. This is more accurate than Kyle Maclachlan in the 1984 version, who was clearly not a teenager. Incidentally, Timothée Chalamet is not a teenager in real life either, but at least he appears closer to the correct age. In terms of character, it also looks like he is going to play the part well, but we’ll have to see the full film before we can tell how closely he aligns with his literary counterpart.
Only glimpsed in the trailer, but also present in previously released stills, is Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Liet Kynes. In the book, Dr Kynes is male, so it’s interesting to see that Villenueve has changed the sex of the character, which may hint at him attempting to address some of the imbalance of gender roles in the novel. Another point to note is that Liet Kynes is the parent of Chani, played by Zendaya in the new film. Zendaya’s Chani crops up a few times in the trailer and she looks close enough to how she’s described in the book; it remains to be seen whether the film will maintain her relationship to Sharon Duncan-Brewster’s character.
Another interesting casting decision is Jason Momoa as Duncan. The character of Duncan was largely side-lined in the 1984 film adaptation, likely in order to streamline the plot. Although a sequel is not officially green-lit yet, the intention is that the story of Villeneuve’s Dune will be told across two films, specially because Villeneuve does not want to dilute or streamline the story as told in the novel. Consequently, Jason Momoa’s Duncan does not need to be side-lined in the new film, and the trailer certainly suggests that he will feature a lot, which makes the decision to cast someone like Momoa in the role make a little more sense. However, Momoa and his portrayal does appear to contrast with the straight-laced character of Duncan within the book.
The 1984 film adaptation had the character of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen riddled with skin disease, which some found quite unpalatable, and floating around, buoyed by anti-gravity suspensors strapped around his body. This is quite a departure from the novel, which describes the Baron as grotesquely obese, using suspensors merely to enable him to walk as an ordinary person. No skin disease, no flying. Stellan Skarsgård’s incarnation of the Baron, although only briefly glimpsed in the trailer, fortunately points to a portrayal that is more faithful to the source material.
Played by the brilliant Sir Patrick Stewart in the 1984 film, the role of Gurney Halleck goes to Josh Brolin this time around. Neither actor looks all that similar to the character in the novel, who is described as a short lump of a man with a hideous scar on his face, but who is nonetheless an unparalleled fighter. Josh Brolin looks set to fulfil that element at least; Stewart didn’t get much of a chance.
Finally, I’d like to say that I am quite excited for Rebecca Ferguson’s casting in the role of Lady Jessica. Her character plays a central role in the story, has exceptional strength of mind, and, as well as looking the part, Ferguson has the acting ability to back it all up. It was disappointing that she wasn’t shown more in the trailer, but we hope we’ll see much more of her within the film itself and that the film will do her character justice. There is much more to her character in the novel than originally showcased in the 1984 film adaptation.
Overall Reaction
After viewing the trailer we are cautiously optimistic that Villenueve’s Dune will be excellent; the trailer points to a vibrant and exciting film capable of bringing the novel to life in full. Villenueve himself has gone on record as being a huge fan of the source material and has apparently wanted to direct his own adaptation of the novel for years; he also insisted that the story be told across two films so that he didn’t have to compress the story into a single movie and lose many important scenes and details. That in itself suggests he will be doing whatever he can to do right by the novelisation. We also know from Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 that he knows how to do science fictions films well. All very good signs indeed.
Dune is slated for release in cinemas on 18th December 2020.
