Timothée Chalamet stuns in epic first look at 'Dune: Part Three'

Timothée Chalamet is leaving his "Marty Supreme" era behind and embracing desert power.

On Tuesday, March 17, Warner Bros. revealed the first footage from "Dune: Part Three," the highly anticipated next installment in the sci-fi franchise that sees Chalamet reprise his role of Paul Atreides.

The movie, from director Denis Villeneuve, is based on the book "Dune Messiah," Frank Herbert's 1969 sequel that picks up 12 years after the events of the original "Dune." The film is set 17 years after the previous installment.

The footage opens with a quiet scene of Paul and Chani (Zendaya) discussing what to name their child before transitioning into numerous battle sequences that show off the movie's epic scope. "I'm doing the best I can to protect my family. How did father do it?" Paul asks his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), who replies, "Your father never started a war."

The trailer also teases the return of Jason Momoa, whose character Duncan Idaho died in the first "Dune" movie, and features a look at Robert Pattinson sporting short, blonde hair for his role as the villain Scytale. Anya Taylor-Joy also makes an appearance as Paul's sister, following the actress' brief cameo in "Part Two."

In the new film, Chalamet will return as the head of House Atreides, who at the end of "Part Two" seized the throne after overthrowing Emperor Shaddam IV (Christopher Walken) and proposing marriage to the Emperor's daughter, Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh).

The cast of "Dune: Part Three" also includes Pugh, Isaach De Bankolé, Charlotte Rampling, Nakoa-Wolf Momoa, Ida Brooke and Javier Bardem.

Will 'Dune: Part 3' be the last movie?

Even though more than 20 "Dune" books have been published, six of which were written by Frank Herbert, Warner Bros. is promoting "Dune: Part Three" as the end of the film series. The studio released several posters on Tuesday for the movie, dubbing it "the epic conclusion."

Villeneuve previously teased to Vanity Fair in 2024 that a potential third "Dune" movie would not feel like the first two, which adapted both halves of the original novel.

"If I do a third one, which is in the writing process, it's not like a trilogy," he said at the time. "It's strange to say that, but if I go back there, it's to do something that feels different and has its own identity."

Villeneuve, who has already been tapped to direct the next James Bond movie, told Time magazine in 2024 that the third film "should be the last 'Dune' movie for me."

The trailer comes days after Chalamet lost in the best actor race at the Oscars March 15 for his performance in "Marty Supreme." But "Dune: Part Three" could be another Academy Awards player for the star. The original "Dune" racked up 10 Oscar nominations and won six, the most of any film that year. "Dune: Part Two" also received five Oscar nods and won two: best sound and best visual effects.

"Dune: Part Three" is scheduled to hit theaters Dec. 18.

Notably, that's the same day as another highly anticipated franchise movie: Marvel's "Avengers: Doomsday." During a conversation with Chalamet in January, "Avengers" star Robert Downey Jr. dubbed a potential "Barbenheimer"-style double feature of both films "Dunesday."