Denis Villeneuve’s Dune doesn’t come out until December, but we keep getting little morsels of information thanks to publications like Vanity Fair and now Empire. The latter released an exclusive new image from the film on their website this week, and it shows the first bit of action we’ve seen from any official material so far.
Warner Bros/Legendary
The image features Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides and Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck balancing on an airborne ornithopter on the desert planet of Arrakis. In Dune, House Atreides is put in charge of the planet and responsible for overseeing the mining of a powerful drug found there, called spice melange. Young Paul finds himself at the center of a fateful tragedy and an epic feud for Arrakis.
Gurney Halleck is Paul Atreides’ weapons teacher and a chief officer of Paul’s father, Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac). A swordmaster for House Atreides, he is also a gifted musician. He was played by Patrick Stewart in the 1984 film version of Dune.
“It’s Paul’s first contact with the deep desert, where he’s mesmerized by it,” Villeneuve told Empire of the image above. “He has a strange feeling of being home. There’s a lot of action at this specific moment, and [it’s] one of the scenes in the movie that I’m starting to get pretty proud of.”
Our first look at Arrakis came from Vanity Fair last month, showing Paul and his mother Lady Jessica on their new home world. Wadi Rum in Jordan served as the real-world location for Arrakis, the same desert locale seen in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
The new photo will appear in the next issue of Empire, on shelves May 14. Another exclusive image from the spread will appear online this Thursday.
In the meantime, if you’re looking for more Dune, it’s not too late to follow along with Nerdist Book Club as we read Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel ahead of the film’s release. This week, we wrap up the first portion of the book, titled “Dune,” and will discuss live on YouTube this Wednesday, May 13 at 5 p.m. PT. You can read more about Nerdist Book Club‘s Dune read-along here.
Featured Image: Warner Bros/Legendary
Editor’s Note: Nerdist is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital Networks.
