Dune 3 – officially titled Dune: Part Three – is only months away as we'll be heading back to Arrakis this December. We're waiting patiently for a new trailer, and it seems we'll be getting one soon as Warner Bros has been teasing a fan event on 8 July.
The first trailer for Denis Villeneuve's epic final instalment of his celebrated Dune trilogy landed in March. As he'd been hinting at since the first movie, Villeneuve will wrap up his Dune trilogy by adapting Frank Herbert's book sequel Dune Messiah. In December 2024, he also re-confirmed to TheWrap that it will be his final Dune movie.
To mark the upcoming release of a new trailer, here's everything you need to know about Dune 3 ahead of its release this December.
Dune 3 release date: When can we expect Dune Part Three in cinemas?
Dune 3 now has a confirmed release date of 18 December which sets it up for an almighty box-office clash with Avengers: Doomsday, which is still set for release on the same day. Some have taken to calling it Dunesday, in honour of 2023's iconic Barbenheimer double-bill.
Filming took place on the movie between July and November 2025, and with the release of the trailer (more on that below) on 17 March, we can assume that everything is on track for that December release.
Whether or not Avengers: Doomsday moves remains to be seen, but Marvel still has a live countdown on YouTube to the 18 December release so we could be absolutely feasting in cinemas that weekend.
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Dune 3 trailer: Watch the Dune Part Three trailer here!
As mentioned above, the first trailer for Dune: Part Three landed on 17 March during an exclusive Q&A with Villeneuve and cast members on TikTok, where the filmmaker confirmed a 17-year time jump for the movie.
The trailer gave us our first look at the returning cast members including Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, as well as debuting Robert Pattinson's striking transformation as Scytale.
If you missed it above, check out the Dune 3 trailer below:
It seems we'll be getting a new trailer for Dune 3 this month as Warner Bros invited fans to a sneak peek event with exclusive footage and the trailer on 8 July.
That doesn't mean the trailer will land on the same day, but hopefully it'll shortly after that we'll all be able to see it.
Dune 3 cast: Who's coming back for Dune Part Three?
Along with the first trailer, we got an official confirmation of the cast for Dune: Part Three, which contains a mix of returning stars and newcomers to the series. Here's who you'll be seeing in the movie:
• Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides
• Zendaya as Chani
• Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan
• Robert Pattinson as Scytale
• Charlotte Rampling as Gaius Helen Mohiam
• Javier Bardem as Stilgar
• Anya Taylor-Joy as Alia Atreides
• Jason Momoa as Hayt
• Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica
• Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck
• Isaach De Bankolé as Farok
• Nakoa-Wolf Momoa as Leto II Atreides
• Ida Brooke as Ghanima Atreides
Florence Pugh didn't have a major role in the sequel, but Villeneuve has already confirmed that Princess Irulan will play a bigger part in the third movie, and Pugh then revealed she was back in April 2025.
Lady Jessica and Gurney Halleck are only mentioned in Dune Messiah and while we'll see them in the movie, don't expect to see much of them. Brolin confirmed in August 2025 that he's "in it", but added to not expect that much of him in it while speaking on Happy Sad Confused), while Ferguson said she's in "one scene" during a Happy Sad Confused episode.
Stephen McKinley Henderson wasn't back as Thufir Hawat in the sequel due to Villeneuve focusing on the Bene Gesserit. Maybe Villeneuve can find a way to have him involved in the third movie, but he also wasn't in Dune Messiah.
Tim Blake Nelson was also cut from the sequel and we never officially found out who he was playing, although it was rumoured to be Lady Margot's husband, Count Fenring. It's possibly he could be in the third movie.
Léa Seydoux had a minor role in Dune: Part Two as Lady Margot Fenring, one of the Bene Gesserit. Lady Margot is not in Dune Messiah although that doesn't rule out her returning in the next movie.
Among the newcomers, you'd have spotted Jason Momoa's son Nakoa-Wolf Momoa and Ida Brooke have been confirmed to appear as Leto II Atreides and Ghanima Atreides, respectively. They are the children of Paul Atreides and Chani, and book fans will know the significance of their birth, but we won't spoil that here.
Jason Momoa responded to his son's casting by joking that he's in for "a rude awakening", adding while speaking to Extra: "He's into the workforce for the first time. It's going to be good. He did it on his own. I don't want to help him, and he's done it all on his own, and good for him."
Talking of Momoa, the trailer revealed our first look at his surprise return as Duncan Idaho, who was killed off in the first movie. Confused? Let us explain how that is happening.
How is Jason Momoa back in Dune 3?
Duncan Idaho might have been killed off in the first movie, but Dune book readers have always known that wasn't the end of his story.
In Dune Messiah, Duncan Idaho is brought back as an artificially created human known as a ghola as a gift to Paul. It's a gift that comes with a deadly secret, but we'll leave that out of here for now.
Momoa 'spoiled' his return for the next movie, confirming on the press tour for A Minecraft Movie in late March 2025 that he was back for Dune 3. "Well, I'm not sure if I'm going to get in trouble or not, but it's the same thing like Game of Thrones," he told Today. "If you didn't read the books, it's not my fault, right? I'm going to be coming back."
So we can assume, for now, that Dune 3 will bring Duncan Idaho back in the same way as the books did.
Dune 3 plot: What happens in Dune Messiah?
Like with the first movie, Villeneuve stayed fairly loyal to Herbert's novel in Dune: Part Two, but there were some significant changes.
Namely, Chani and Paul are separated at the end of the movie with her riding off into the desert when Paul starts a holy war, while Paul's sister Alia is not yet born at the end of the second movie where, by the end of the book, she's already killed the Baron.
That will likely necessitate some changes in bringing Dune Messiah to the screen, but we can still expect it to be largely faithful to Herbert's story.
Dune Messiah is set 12 years after the events of the first novel – the movie has been confirmed to shift this to 17 years – and sees Paul reckon with the fact that his victory over the Harkonnens has led to devastation across the universe, with billions dead as a result of the holy war.
The novel sees Paul attempt to bring an end to the fighting as he deals with new enemies and betrayals from former allies, leading to him having to make a choice that could change the future of the entire universe.
Dune Messiah was written by Herbert as a response to people viewing Paul as a hero at the end of Dune, which was not his intention. Villeneuve's take on Dune has already made that clear, especially in the climax of Dune 2, so that could free up the filmmaker to be more flexible when it comes to adapting the story of Dune Messiah for the third movie.
As Zendaya teased to Digital Spy, don't expect the conclusion to Paul and Chani's story to be a happy one. "It just becomes a massive distraction and confusion and point of contention for her. So yeah, I think it's far more than a love interest, so much as a complicated relationship that love gets in the way of," she explained.
"And how are these two characters going to reconcile with that? I don't know how they get over it. I don't know what their future holds. Without giving it away, it ain't pretty."
Dune: Part Three will be released in cinemas on 18 December.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
