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MOVIE FEATURE

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Dune and Dune: Part Two encompass only one of the six books in Frank Herbert’s Duniverse, and with Denis Villeneuve’s films receiving unanimous praise, the Canadian director is currently developing a third film based on the second novel, Dune Messiah , which explores Paul Atreides’s reign as Emperor 12 years later. Composer Hans Zimmer has already begun working on the score, with further details under wraps. Watch this space! DUNE: PART THREE

Timothée Chalamet, Austin Butler, and Florence Pugh discuss stepping into the world of Dune . Words Gill Pringle R eprising his role as Paul Atreides TWICE THE SPICE

• Dune Part Two is out Jun 12

stardom portraying The King in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis (2022). Butler believes Dune is more relevant today than ever. “When I first read the book, I was 15, I didn't understand those themes of corruption and greed and power, or the idea of one society living in harmony with nature and another society exploiting nature. But rereading it and then reading the screenplay, it felt like it is talking about what’s happening in the One ’s A list cast, Part Two doubles down on its international ensemble with the introduction of Florence Pugh’s Princess Irulan, Christopher Walken’s The Emperor, and Léa Seydoux’s Lady Margot Fenring. Like Butler, Pugh had long been fascinated by the world of Dune - and it was a “pinch-me” moment when she actually arrived on set. “It was quite possibly the most thrilling welcome to a world I think I have ever experienced, and probably ever will experience. I'd always wondered if they’d ever make those huge epics again, and then Dune came out and it truly was an epic,” says Pugh, 28. “Being able to walk onto the sets and be a part of Denis Villeneuve’s imagination is quite an experience. If Denis told me I could be Spear Carrier #3, I’d have said yes.” news today,” he says. While welcoming the return of Dune Part

in the second part of sci-fi blockbuster Dune , Timothée Chalamet cannot disguise his joy at finding such a worthy adversary in Austin Butler’s bloodthirsty Feyd-Rautha. “I don’t want to give anything away about what happens in the film, but I will say that Austin is extraordinary, I mean really extraordinary,” he says. The two actors share a heart-stopping fight scene for which they both trained intensely. “Training started from day one. I started learning the fight choreography in Los Angeles, I think Austin was already in Budapest. So, as soon as I got there, we were working on the fight,” says Chalamet, 28. “Austin was a dedicated scene partner and fight partner. Not only is he an incredible actor, he’s a super hard worker, he really cares about the work. And that whole sequence was just epic - no other way to put it,” he adds.

Florence Pugh

Timothée Chalamet

the same feelings as when I saw Apocalypse Now for the first time. I knew right then that I wanted to be a part of the next one. So, I feel very fortunate,” says Butler, 32, who joins the all-star franchise as the menacing nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. “You don’t get to play characters like this every day, and on top of that was the challenge of the physical transformation. It was also about getting into his psychology, discussing with Denis why he behaves like he does, his

relationship with his family and the brutal world of the uncle, which he grew up within. “Characters like Feyd can be hard to justify, yet humanity is full of those types of people, so shining a light on that part of the human condition was a fascinating thing to explore,” says the actor, who achieved global

Timothée Chalamet used Austin Butler’s Elvis vocal and dialect coaches to prepare for his role as Bob Dylan in the upcoming biopic A Complete Unknown . DYK?

Butler has been a huge fan of Dune , ever since he read Frank Herbert’s celebrated novel as a teenager, becoming further invested in the story after watching Denis Villeneuve’s first instalment of the film. “The first time I saw it I had

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JUNE 2024

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