The sci-fi sequel will conclude the “Dune” trilogy on Dec. 18, 2026.

Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya surprise CinemaCon with Dune: Part Three’s opening scene: Here’s what we saw

The sci-fi sequel will conclude the "Dune" trilogy on Dec. 18, 2026.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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April 14, 2026 11:01 p.m. ET

Timothée Chalamet in 'Dune: Part Three'. Credit:

Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya are bringing the sands of Arrakis to CinemaCon.

The *Marty Supreme* actor and the *Euphoria* star surprised audiences at the Colosseum at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas during Warner Bros.' presentation on Tuesday, where they introduced the first seven minutes of *Dune: Part Three* alongside director Denis Villeneuve and costar Jason Momoa.

The opening scene of the sci-fi threequel centers on Javier Bardem's Stilgar, who's part of a massive battalion headed to do battle on an unnamed planet.

The first shot shows a huge fleet of rectangular ships launching from space into the atmosphere of the rainy world. After lightning strikes one of the ships down, the rest of the fleet eventually lands on the surface, where the Fremen warriors are awestruck by the water falling from the sky.

After a moment of silence, a horrific barrage of laser fire barrels toward Stilgar's crew, and the blasts tear through men and ships, both of which burst into flame.

Through binoculars, we see an enormous turret retract into the ground, and a towering pillar emerges from the trembling sand with *several* of those laser turrets attached. It's a total bloodbath (without blood, as this movie still looks like it'll be PG-13 like its predecessors.)

As a handful of surviving Fremen take cover, Stilgar grabs the "shield piercer" and shoots three blasts from his handheld cannon to try to make a dent in the laser pillar. Instead, all three of the blasts bounce off the shield and deflect onto his allies.

Sparks fly everywhere, and as the pillar begins to move, the footage transitions to clips from the film's teaser released last month.

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Before the footage began, Zendaya explained that her character, Chani, has changed in the intervening years since *Dune: Part Two*. "The years don't seem to have been kind to anyone on Dune, and I think Chani specifically because of her morality and her fierce belief in wanting to protect her planet and her people," she said. "So it's been a really difficult, challenging, ungentle and unkind few years, and I think there's so much left still to fight for. It's unrelenting, I feel like, and we're catching her in a very different place in her life where that youthful outlook is completely gone."

Chalamet also teased how Paul Atreides has evolved between movies. "He's become his worst vision," he explained, noting that the character is "trying to figure out how to still protect those who he loves in his life while becoming the all-powerful dark emperor of the universe."

Villeneuve also explained the stakes of the final film. "A lot of things happened. I mean, all the visions, all the nightmares that Paul was [having] came to truth, it became reality," the *Arrival* filmmaker said. "And it means that Paul is dealing with the consequences of his action and his decisions. So it's more of a redemption story, I would say. But still the heartbeat of the film is that love story between Chani and Paul — it's more of a broken love story, but still."

Chalamet reflected on how making the final film was a "deeply emotional" process. "I've grown up on screen with Denis [on these] three films," he said. "It was just deeply moving to be part of a sci-fi trilogy on the scale of *Lord of the Rings*, but in a time when movie theaters and movies aren't as naturally successful as they used to be, you know. It's a deep honor, if not the biggest one of my career, to be working with 'The One,' which is Denis Villeneuve, the real Paul Atreides."

He continued, "We're in a room full of cinema owners and theater chains, and if we were all smart, we would all make a shield around Denis....he's really 'The One.' He's on another level.

Robert Pattinson in 'Dune: Part Three'.

Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

Based on Frank Herbert's sequel novel *Dune: Messiah*, *Dune: Part Three* takes place 17 years after the events of 2024's *Dune: Part Two*. The film previously released its first teaser last month, which showed an aged Chalamet, a pregnant Zendaya, and the first look at Robert Pattinson's new character Scytale.

"This one is a thriller. It's a more action-packed and more dense film, more muscular than the two others," Villeneuve previously said at an event promoting the trailer last month. "We see Paul dealing with the consequences of having too much power, and him trying to figure out how to get out of this cycle of violence. And of course, he's an emperor who can see the future, so he's kind of invincible."

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Pattinson also teased his character at the same event. "He's an unusual character in the book," he explained. "You can't really tell whose side he's on. It's kind of what makes him interesting. I wouldn't say he's a kind of conventional bad guy as such. I don't think he is. He might even be a good guy. Who knows?"

*Dune: Part Three* will blast into theaters on Dec. 18, 2026.

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