‘Dune 3’ Cast Says the Movie Takes ‘Departures’ From the Books, but ‘You’re Crazy If You’re Going to Pick Fault’ With It

The cast of Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune 3” is getting the word out early: There will be major “departures” form Frank Herbert’s literary franchise in the upcoming film, which is set to pull heavily from Herbert’s 1969 sequel novel “Dune Messiah.”

“There’s a lot in this film that is very true to the source material, and there are departures,” Zendaya told The New York Times, with franchise newcomer Robert Pattinson adding: “You got to be kind of crazy if you’re going to be picking fault with this one [over the changes to the books].”

“The script was really cool, but it was quite complicated,” added Pattinson, who makes his “Dune” debut as Scytale. “And watching the film, it’s not about what I thought it was going to be about at all. It reads as much more of a grand political, moral fable, and the movie is so much more emotional. A lot of it is about parenting, and I just thought it was so moving.”

When asked if he was satisfied with Villeneuve’s ending of the film trilogy, franchise star Timothée Chalamet answered: “Absolutely. It didn’t feel like the bar dropped at all, Denis just changed the location of the bar. This movie is its own thing.”

“Dune 3” arrives in theaters at the tail end of a successful year at the box office. It’s opening weekend alongside “Avengers: Doomsday” is widely expected to be the highest-grossing single weekend in box office history. Florence Pugh, who returns in the third movie as Irulan, credits the “Dune” movies with bringing “back moviegoing” following the pandemic and various Hollywood strikes. The first “Dune” movie opened simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max and grossed $410 million worldwide, no small feat in 2021 when Hollywood was still being disrupted by COVID. The 2024 sequel received an exclusive theatrical release and earned a mighty $714 million.

“What an event the second one was,” Pugh told The Times. “It was just so lovely to be a part of something that we know is our generational kind of ‘Star Wars.'”

Zendaya added, “Any opportunity that we have that we can hopefully contribute to the moviegoing experience and keep that alive, because it’s so much a part of my life, my childhood, so many people’s lives — it’s the reason we do it.”

“Dune 3” opens in theaters Dec. 18 from Warner Bros and Legendary.