Dune: Part Three is about how Paul Atreides has "been impacted by years of leadership" as Timothée Chalamet discusses director Denis Villeneuve's "inspiring" approach to the sci-fi sequel

Dune: Part Three will feature a "different" version of Paul Atreides, according to Timothée Chalamet, as the story is set 15-20 years after the events of the previous movie. Speaking exclusively to GamesRadar+ during the promotion of his new movie Marty Supreme, the actor revealed some details about the upcoming third movie in Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi saga.

"Without giving too much away about Dune: Part Three, but I am playing older. And also someone who's been impacted by years of leadership and carries that weight. It's different," he explained.

When asked about how that will impact the tone of the film, he added: "I don't want to say too much. But what I will say is Denis' been so incredibly spot on about realizing the challenge. I mean, a lot of the creative conversations Denis and I had – which are really his creative corner, and worldview and script development that I really have little to do with – were well aware of the challenges of making a third film.

"And I thought it was inspiring from an artist's point of view, not necessarily from an acting one, but from an artist's point of view, to go, 'Wow, look at this guy really meet the challenges of a third film head on, when the first two have been well-received'."

Chalamet also told us why his roles in Marty Supreme and Dune 3 are "vastly different", and how that helped him take on the challenges of filming the projects back to back. "Had the roles been similar, it might have been more complicated. I’d have thought, ‘Oh, man… How do I not let these roles bleed into each other?’"

"They are such different roles and the tones of the film couldn’t be more different," he continued. "A high-wire, Safdie brother, New York, 1950s period piece about a borderline delusional, ambitious character in contrast to a Denis Villeneuve sci-fi epic space opera."

The actor finished filming Dune 3 last month alongside returning stars Zendaya, Florence Pugh, Josh Brolin, Christopher Walken and Jason Momoa, with new cast additions including Robert Pattinson. The threequel is adapting Frank Herbert's Dune: Messiah, which sees Paul at the forefront of the intergalactic war between the Fremen and every other political entity in the galaxy seeking control of the precious Spice.

Dune: Part Three releases December 18, 2026. For more, check out our upcoming movies list to make sure you're up to date with all major releases.