Get ready for a potentially busy time at theaters next year: both Dune: Part 3and Avengers: Doomsdayare coming December 18, 2026.
While the dates for these two films aren’t new, what is is that Dune, at least, is currently sticking to this date. According to reporter Jeff Sneider on a recent “Hot Mic” episode, Warner Bros. currently has no intention of delaying the film, and reporter Matt Belloni separately mentioned recently on his own podcast “The Town” that “neither of them” are budging on the date. Now that Doomsday has put out one of its four teasers for the general public, it’s looking like we’ll be getting another Barbenheimer-type phenomenon in “Dunesday“, as Marvel actor Simu Liu recently declared.
Avoiding whether Dunesday is another Barbenheimer in the making—it’s not, they’re two sides of the same coin where Barbie and Oppenheimerwere on different ends of the blockbuster spectrum—the big question is whether the two films will keep the same date or if one of them will budge. Admittedly, WB was the first studio to pin down a date for Dune: Part 3, and it’s certainly a gutsy move to put its young sci-fi franchise against the more established MCU. But as Sneider noted, first dibs on the release calendar may as well not matter in the court of public opinion—Avengers: Doomsday has teasers to hype up its incoming release, complete with a countdown timer, and Dune doesn’t even have a poster or anything to tease.
On the other hand, Disney’s had no problems moving around release dates for several Marvel movies, Doomsday included. Back when it was still subtitled Kang Dynasty, it was meant to come out this past May, and even after the retitling, it was kicked back to May 2026 before being pushed again to the current December slot. So it wouldn’t be a surprise if it had to be moved around once more, even if it’s weeks before Dune to steal some of its thunder. There’s a good chance either could move up, actually: aside from Spider-Man: No Way Home, MCU movies tend to stop at early November, while the Dune films have landed (or tried to) in September or October of their respective years.
At time of writing, Dune: Part 3 and Avengers: Doomsday will hit theaters on December 18, 2026. Let us know which one you plan to see, if not both, or whichever one you think will get out of the other’s way.
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday for their development of new molecular structures that can trap vast quantities of gas inside, laying the groundwork to potentially suck greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere or harvest moisture from desert environments.
The chairperson of the committee that made the award compared the structures called metal-organic frameworks to the seemingly bottomless magical handbag carried by Hermione Granger in the “Harry Potter” series. Another example might be Mary Poppins’ enchanted carpet bag. These containers look small from the outside but are able to hold surprisingly large quantities within.
The committee said Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi were honored for “groundbreaking discoveries” that “may contribute to solving some of humankind’s greatest challenges,” from pollution to water scarcity.
Robson, 88, is affiliated with the University of Melbourne in Australia. Kitagawa, 74, is with Japan’s Kyoto University, and Yaghi, 60, is with the University of California, Berkeley.
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The work that won the 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry
The chemists worked separately but added to each other’s breakthroughs over decades, beginning with Robson’s work in the 1980s.
The scientists were able to devise stable atomic structures that preserved holes of specific sizes that allowed gas or liquid to flow in and out. The holes can be customized to match the size of specific molecules that scientists or engineers want to hold in place, such as water, carbon dioxide or methane.
“That level of control is quite rare in chemistry,” said Kim Jelfs, a computational chemist at Imperial College London. “It’s really efficient for storing gases.”
A relatively small amount of the structure — which combines metal nodes and organic rods, somewhat like the interchangeable building pieces in Tinker Toys — creates many organized holes and a huge amount of surface area inside. For instance, Jelfs said, a few grams of molecular organic framework may have as much surface area as a soccer field, all of which can be used to lock gas molecules in place.
“If you can store toxic gases,” said American Chemical Society President Dorothy Phillips, “it can help address global challenges.”
Why the work matters
Today researchers around the world are exploring possibilities that include using the frameworks to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and pollution from industrial sites. Another possibility is to use them to harvest moisture from desert air, perhaps to one day provide clean drinking water in arid environments. Scientists are also investigating using the structures for targeted drug delivery. The idea is to load them with medicine that may be slowly released inside the body.
“It could be a better way to deliver low doses continually,” as with cancer drugs, said David Pugh, a chemist at King’s College London.
The research “could be really, really valuable” in many industries, he said. But “there are still challenges when you translate that from the lab to the real world.” For example, many of the structures store the most gas and liquid in very low-temperature, high-pressure environments, he said.
Today, metal-organic frameworks are already being used in some surprising ways, including as part of packing material to keep fruit fresh over long shipping routes, by gradually releasing chemicals that slow down the ripening process.
The winners’ reactions
Yaghi learned that he had won while traveling from San Francisco to Brussels. As he grabbed his luggage and prepared to change flights in Frankfurt, his phone started buzzing with a call from Sweden.
“You cannot prepare for a moment like that,” he said at a news conference. “The feeling is indescribable, but it’s absolutely thrilling.”
When his phone rang, Kitagawa was at first skeptical. He said he answered “rather bluntly,” thinking it must be a telemarketing call.
“It was such a big prize so I thought, ‘Is it really true?’” he recalled during a news conference at Kyoto University. “When one of the experts came on the phone and congratulated me, I finally thought it was real and felt relaxed.”
Kitagawa said the research has been widely recognized in the world of chemistry, but “it is very difficult to gain understanding by the ordinary people, and I’m delighted to be recognized.”
The 88-year-old Robson, in a phone call with The Associated Press from his home in Melbourne, Australia, said he was “very pleased of course and a bit stunned as well.” “This is a major thing that happens late in life when I’m not really in a condition to withstand it all,” he said. “But here we are.”
Nobel history and other 2025 prizes
The 2024 chemistry prize was awarded to David Baker, a biochemist at the University of Washington in Seattle, and to Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, computer scientists at Google DeepMind, a British-American artificial intelligence research laboratory based in London.
The three were awarded for discovering powerful techniques to decode and even design novel proteins, the building blocks of life. Their work used advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, and held the potential to transform how new drugs and other materials are made.
The first Nobel of 2025 was announced Monday. The prize in medicine went to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Dr. Shimon Sakaguchi for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.
Tuesday’s physics prize went to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis for their research on the weird world of subatomic quantum tunneling that advances the power of everyday digital communications and computing.
This year’s Nobel announcements continue with the literature prize Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday and the economics prize on Monday.
The award ceremony will be held Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, who founded the prizes. Nobel was a wealthy Swedish industrialist and the inventor of dynamite. He died in 1896.
Dazio reported from Berlin, and Larson reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Rod McGuirk in Melbourne, Australia, contributed to this report.
AP Nobel Prizes: https://apnews.com/hub/nobel-prizes
Flagler County has received millions of dollars in federal funds to help fortify its coast by rebuilding dunes lost during Hurricane Milton.Flagler Beach received nearly $9 million in federal funds. The new dunes will stand about 14 feet tall, much larger than before. Construction will start in the Malacompra area and move north toward Marineland. The county’s coastal engineer stated that, because a similar project is already underway to the south, they were able to move quickly and are working to amend the current contract to retain the same contractors. She said it took a while to get these funds approved, but she is excited to have the engineers finally design these new dunes. Construction is scheduled to start on November 1 and is expected to take approximately three to four months to complete. The hope is that once this project is completed, the dunes will be able to withstand a Category 2 hurricane.
Flagler County has received millions of dollars in federal funds to help fortify its coast by rebuilding dunes lost during Hurricane Milton.
Flagler Beach received nearly $9 million in federal funds.
The new dunes will stand about 14 feet tall, much larger than before. Construction will start in the Malacompra area and move north toward Marineland.
The county’s coastal engineer stated that, because a similar project is already underway to the south, they were able to move quickly and are working to amend the current contract to retain the same contractors.
She said it took a while to get these funds approved, but she is excited to have the engineers finally design these new dunes.
Construction is scheduled to start on November 1 and is expected to take approximately three to four months to complete.
The hope is that once this project is completed, the dunes will be able to withstand a Category 2 hurricane.
On Sept. 10, the Canadian director will introduce a screening of Dune: Part One at the Scotiabank Theatre and, after an intermission, will follow up a screening of Dune: Part Two with a Q&A session. Villeneuve, a frequent visitor to TIFF, is expected to let his festival audience in on his creative process behind bring Frank Herbert’s epic saga to the big screen.
The original Dune film in 2021 starred Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, and Zendaya. Villeneuve’s Dune grossed more than $402 million at the worldwide box office, an impressive number that came amid the pandemic and a day-and-date release on what was then called HBO Max.
The long-delayed Dune: Part Two sequel, running close to three hours and released earlier this year, included the return of Chalamet, Zendaya, Ferguson, Javier Bardem and Brolin, as well as fresh faces Austin Butler and Florence Pugh.
Dune: Part Two picked up right after the first installment, as Chalamet’s Paul Atreides joins forces with the Fremen and seeks revenge against the enemies who murdered his family, possibly saving the universe along the way.
In all, TIFF’s Dune double-header from Legendary and Warner Bros. is expected to run to 400 minutes in length on the downtown Imax screen. Tickets to the public screening will go on sale Aug. 28 and fans will have to pay to see both films as part of the festival package.
The Toronto Film Festival is set to run from Sept. 5 to 15.
It’s been about a year and a half since we first caught wind of Dune: Awakening, the massively multiplayer online survival game set on the planet of Arrakis. On Friday, Funcom released a story-focused trailer at Summer Game Fest, teasing that the game will focus on an alternate telling of the story of Paul Atreides — but we’ll have to wait until Gamescom in Aug. 2024 for a gameplay trailer.
The game drops players first-person into the world of Dune (well, at least, the world of Arrakis) where they’ll traverse the desert, using the land and relying on its other inhabitants to survive and thrive. Players will be able to join house Atreides or the Harkonnen, or live a quieter existence as a crafter or trader — but they won’t be able to kill or ride sandworms, unfortunately.
The game harnesses the simultaneously desolate and claustrophobic setting of the desert to push players to their survival game limits: You’ll have to avoid the sun, evade sandworms, craft tools, and find water wherever it exists (and yes, that includes enemies’ bodies). But it’s not all treacherous walks through Arrakis — vehicles include thopters, thumpers, and sand bikes, and the Voice is at your disposal should you need to sway your enemies one way or another.
While past Dune games have (very successfully, mind you) leaned on real-time strategy to encapsulate the vibe of the books and films, Dune: Awakening promises the most immersive experience yet. We’ll have to see if it delivers on that promise when it’s released on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.
Dune: Part Twowas a hit, so while it’s a little surprising there’s been no official announcement on expected third movie Dune Messiah, here’s a consolation: the first update in awhile on Dune: Prophecy, the Bene Gesserit-centric prequel series (originally titled Dune: The Sisterhood) in the works at Max.
Denis Villeneuve on Ending Dune: Part Two That Way
Indian superstar Tabu, whose work outside of Hindi films includes Life of Piand The Namesake, has joined the cast in the recurring role of Sister Francesca. The character is described in Variety’s report as “strong, intelligent, and alluring, Sister Francesca leaves a lasting impression in her wake. Once a great love of the Emperor, her return to the palace strains the balance of power in the capital.”
It’s an encouraging bit of news for Dune: Prophecy, which has had a bumpy road amid a series ofcast and director changes—though that’s not necessarily a knock against what the series will eventually be. It was first announced back in 2019, just before the entertainment world faced major schedule changes from the pandemic and then the Hollywood strikes. Just look at how well those delayed Dune feature filmsturned out!
Along with Tabu, the cast for Dune: Prophecy includes Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Travis Fimmel, Johdi May, Mark Strong, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Josh Heuston, Chloe Lea, Jade Anouka, Faoileann Cunningham, Edward Davis, Aoife Hinds, Chris Mason, and Shalom Brune-Franklin. So far there’s no release date, but the series is heading to Max eventually.
I’ll watch anything with Zendaya in it. Even without the genius-level marketing that was the Challengers press tour — complete with those tennis ball Loewe heels — I still would’ve rushed to the theater to watch Challengers. Due to last year’s strike, its delayed release made one thing obvious: anticipation really does make the reward that much sweeter. Challengers finally comes out on Friday, April 26th and after watching an early screening, I can confirm, it’s well worth the wait.
What is Challengers about?
Challengers is about tennis. Challengers is about a love triangle. Challengers is about Zendaya’s bob. Directed by Luca Guadagnino of Call Me By Your Name, it’s no surprise that this movie is also about sex. It follows three young tennis players — two lifelong friends who are rising stars and superstar prodigy Tashi Duncan with whom they are massively enamored — over their messy love lives and careers.
Zendaya leads as Tashi Duncan, the intense and intensely ambitious woman at the center of this story. After a devastating injury, Tashi goes from the top of the game to her husband’s coach, trying to recall what she felt at the height of her career.
Ambition battles desire as the love story between the three twists and turns over the course of time. Shifting between time periods and storylines, it feels like a Christopher Nolan film if it slayed. And with Luca’s expert directorial eye, styling from JW Anderson’s Loewe, and Zendaya as heroine, it’s a cinematic feat — tense, vivid, and utterly irresistible. Zendaya herself recommends watching the movie at least three times while “viewing” it from each character’s perspective each time. Well, what Z says, goes.
Clearly, Mike Faist (Dear Evan Hansen, West Side Story) as Art and Josh O’Connor (The Crown, God’s Own Country) as Patrick have been inducted into the exclusive club of Luca’s muses. If you weren’t in love with them before, you will be by the movie’s end. The film has confirmed them as the white boys of the month. But they’re more than just pretty faces. They are Actors — with a capital A.
And Challengers is their launch pad for Hollywood’s latest leading men. Their performances are masterful, their characters are tight and consistent, and their chemistry is unmatched.
While their chemistry with Zendaya is electric, it’s their chemistry together that keeps the film pulsing with anticipatory tension. Whether they love each other or hate each other, the best scenes are those when Faist and O’Connor can play off each other — whether it’s literally tennis or a battle of wits and the battle for Zendaya’s heart.
Of course: we have to talk about that scene. Teased in the trailer and the promo images alike, everyone is all aflutter over the film’s alleged menage a trois. Appearing early on, it’s a taste of what the film does well: emphasizes sex appeal without denigrating any of its characters — especially Zendaya — as mere sexual objects.
Sex in this film is often implied. Yet, sensuality and the power exchange of desire are foregrounded. It’s about power. But it’s also a game. And, like tennis, Zendaya is a master. “You don’t know what tennis is,” she tells Art and Patrick. “It’s a relationship.” For the three of them, this certainly proves true. The central question here is: who will win?
This is a movie about tennis, actually.
The internet has noticed a strange trend: the women who’ve played Spiderman’s love interest in the major Spiderman franchises have all gone on to do movies about tennis. Kirsten Dunst did the underrated rom-com Wimbledon. Emma Stone portrayed Billie Jean King in Battle of the Sexes just three years after her term as Gwen Stacey. And now, Zendaya is playing her own version of a tennis star.
But this isn’t just a film about tennis players. It’s a movie deeply in love with the game of tennis itself. It plays with the form of the game by mirroring a tennis match — each act of the film feels like a set of a match. It moves through scenes and time periods like perfect volleys. The key scene that ties it all together is a tennis match. We watch the ball go back and forth as we are transported to and from the past, wondering which player will get the upper hand.
“What do you want?” The boys ask Tashi early in the film. “To watch some good fucking tennis,” she says.
In the end, the sentiment is repeated. In tennis, love means zero. And that’s the Challengers’ conceit. Sitting across from the umpire (who is — fun fact — played by her real-life assistant Darnell Appling) in the central tennis scene, her judgment is all. It’s like the final scene of Love and Basketball — they’re playing for her heart. And her heart is always with the game.
Challengers will make a tennis fan of you. While you don’t need to know the game in order to follow the plot, its artistic representation of the game — from the writing to the directorial shot list — will satisfy the superfans and intrigue the newbies.
Let’s get to the point (pun intended): Is Zendaya’s Tashi a triumph?
Earlier this year, Timothee Chalamet achieved the impressive feat of starring in two of the year’s highest-grossing films — Dune: Part Two and Wonka. I predict that by the time they stop this weekend’s Box Office count, Zendaya will achieve the same feat with Dune: Part Two and Challengers.
While she’s the heart of Dune: Part Two, she’s finally taking her rightful place as a leading lady with her turn as Tashi Duncan. After playing high schoolers for decades from Spider-Man to Euphoria, the role of Tashi is the perfect transition. We meet Tashi the summer after high school, before she heads to Stanford, and watch her grow into an adult in real-time. Zendaya and her character get similar arcs.
Zendaya deftly handles Tashi’s youthful confidence with her jaded older self while rocking that damn bob. It’s up to you to decide whether you love this character or despise her. There’s a viral interview in which an interviewer remarks that as much as he loves Zendaya, this character kind of made him hate her. Meanwhile, I — lover of maneaters and female manipulators — am pinning photos of Tashi to my vision board as we speak.
Audiences are split on their takes on Tashi but everyone agrees: Zendaya played her with the chill-inducing complexity she deserves. EGOT soon! This is Zendaya’s magnum opus — so far. She’s proven she’s a movie star, a leading lady, and an adult woman ready to play older roles. I can’t wait for what she does next.
Challengers will hit theaters on Friday, April 26th. Watch the full trailer here:
Armed with a subtle yet rumbling soundscape that gradually escalates into an intricately woven electronic frenzy, LA-based electronic producer Bisaria has marked himself as an artist who’s making incredible strides in the industry.
Known for weaving Indian themes into his music, he strongly believes in expressing elements of his culture through his sound and aesthetic. Similar sounds and touches can be heard in his original track “Fortress”. His live performances also feature something very distinct – the alto-saxophone – skillfully played by Bisaria himself. He has showcased his talent across major cities including Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Las Vegas, serving as a supporting act for major artists such as Deadmau5, Flume, Rezz, Duke Dumont, Aluna, Aminé and more.
Now, he’s presented a breathtaking rendition of the renowned movie Dune’s expansive soundtrack. By starting with Hans Zimmer’s minimalist “Gom Jabbar” track as a foundation and incorporating a primal, tribal scream, Bisaria introduces slow-burning, pulsating percussion and an elegant sitar, yielding a remarkably refreshing interpretation. The result is simultaneously edgy, mysterious, haunting, and compelling, encapsulating a captivating blend of elements.
“The genesis of this remix was an homage to the ethereal and powerful essence captured in “Gom Jabbar” from the 2021 film, Dune. Hans Zimmer’s vision to “unleash that inner strength” through a singular, primal vocal note resonated deeply with me. This track is a fusion of that inspiration with the rich vibrancy of Indian music, embodied through a prominent sitar melody I composed. This piece is one of my attempts at bridging the world of electronic music with my cultural background, akin to Zimmer’s quest for music that defies the conventional, marrying modern with the classical.” – Bisaria
We had the opportunity to chat with Bisaria some more about this work. Check it out below!
What initially drew you to Hans Zimmer’s “Gom Jabbar” track from the Dune soundtrack, and what inspired you to create a remix of it? –
The vocal element of “Gom Jabbar” instantly evoked memories from my childhood, particularly the singers at the temples we visited in Rajasthan.
Did you often watch Dune throughout your studio sessions for this remix?
I didn’t necessarily watch the film throughout the studio sessions, but I did often explore the rest of the Dune soundtrack, as well as other pieces by Hans Zimmer from different films.
Separately, there was a re-release I attended ahead of Dune 2’s premiere. Watching it again in a theater setting made me glad I acted on the inspiration I felt two years ago upon my first viewing.
“Fortress,” your latest original track, also features Indian sonic elements. How do you ensure that these cultural elements are authentically represented in your music while still maintaining a contemporary electronic sound?
For tracks that lean towards Indian motifs, the inspiration often comes unexpectedly and from a variety of sources — perhaps most often while listening to (western) classical music if it’s in the minor pentatonic scale.
Just to be clear — I don’t position myself as a traditional Indian musician schooled in the genre, but rather as someone deeply influenced by classic Bollywood and religious Indian music from my upbringing — those melodies/scales/instruments resonate with me profoundly. I don’t know if that means it’s not “authentic,” but I suppose authenticity is subjective anyway in this context.
We understand that you incorporate the alto-saxophone into your live performances. How does this instrument add to the live experience, and what led you to include it in your sets?
I started playing the alto-saxophone, clarinet, and baritone-sax at age 12, eventually traveling the country in high school to perform as part of a jazz band. The real push to include the alto-sax in my live sets happened while watching a Big Wild show for the first time back in 2018 — his sets involve mixing live instruments with dance music in a way that just clicked for me. It made me think, “Hey, I can bring my own twist to this.”
So, having been able to play for so many years, it was easy for me to identify moments in a typical DJ set where a sax could enrich the track. The natural evolution of this was for me to start including it in my original music — the most prominent track with sax thus far has been “Chase” which I released last year.
Having supported major artists like Deadmau5, Flume, and Rezz, what have been some standout moments or lessons learned from these experiences that have influenced your own musical journey?
Sharing the stage with giants like Deadmau5, Duke Dumont, and Rezz was like taking an advanced course in how to truly connect with an audience. Watching them work, I saw firsthand how they craft a journey through their sets, blending emotions and energy to create unforgettable experiences.
Prior to opening for these artists, I adopted a highly analytical approach, dissecting their sets to understand the timing between tracks, transition styles, crossover elements, the pacing of BPM throughout a set, and more. Understanding their techniques in this way taught me the importance of flow in a live set, how to weave together different tracks while placing them in the larger context of the full performance.
The biggest takeaway for me has been the value of staying present and adaptable. I very quickly moved away from pre-planned sets in favor of a more fluid, dynamic approach, allowing me to better engage with the audience and react in real-time.
Two weeks ago, Dune: Part Twocame out in theaters, and became the first big hit of 2024. Even with Kung Fu Panda 4 releasing last weekend, that hasn’t really changed—if anything, it’s looking like Part Two is going to have some hefty legs throughout the rest of its theatrical run.
Denis Villeneuve on Ending Dune: Part Two That Way
Per Variety, the sci-fi film is more than likely going to make over $500 million by Monday. At time of writing, its global take is $494.7 million, putting it slightly over the $434.8 million of the original movie. While the 2021 film had a simultaneous HBO Max release to contend with , Part Two was touted as being exclusively in theaters, and has the word of mouth to keep it going. (If you have Twitter, you’ve probably heard of the guy who’s seen it nearly 20 times by this point.) Currently, i’s the highest-grossing movie in all of 2024 both domestically and worldwide. Going past $500M would make it one of the few movies to do so in our (not entirely) post-pandemic times, and analysts have speculated the movie will do around $600M when all is said and done.
Even with Dune’s new milestone, Kung Fu Panda 4 managed to secure the top spot in the domestic box office. Dreamworks’ animated sequel netted another $30 million in North America and $39.6 million internationally. At $176.5 million worldwide, it still has a ways to go before it touches the box office of the first three films, which each made $500-600M during their individual runs.
Next week, both movies will have some mighty competition in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which has been getting heavy promo in recent weeks. (That, and folks love them some Ghostbusters.) On March 29, the kaiju will go to war in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, though that one may be hurt (or helped) by the recent success of Godzilla Minus One. Given how well it’s doing so far, WB might keep Dune around in theaters for longer than normal—but if not, there’s always streaming.
As was foretold in Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice” music video, in which Christopher Walken danced to a line from Dune (“Walk without rhythm, It won’t attract the worm”), the actor would be destined to join Frank Herbert’s sci-fi universe in Denis Villeneuve’s acclaimed adaptation. In fact, Dune: Part Twobrought Walken out of a four-year acting break.
Denis Villeneuve on Ending Dune: Part Two That Way
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Walken discussed why he took on the role of the formidable Emperor who sets in motion the fall and rise of House Atreides in Dune. “I had, of course, seen the first Dune a number of times. I loved it, and I admired [Villeneuve’s] movies. Arrival, I thought, was wonderful. And to be with all those terrific actors—Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin, Timothée Chalamet, Florence Pugh, and Stellan Skarsgård—and to go to Budapest, which is a beautiful city. And of course, that’s what I do for a living. It was only, I think, three weeks. So, everything about it was attractive,” he said to the magazine.
Walken, who had somehow not yet been scooped up by a sci-fi epic, also revealed that he was almost in Star Wars but the timing wasn’t right. “I think it was for Han Solo,” Walken shared. “Yes, I auditioned for it. And if I’m not mistaken, my partner in the audition was—I think this is true—it was Jodie Foster. I think we did a screen test. I’m not sure we did a scene. Maybe we just sat in front of, in those days, those old videotape cameras… I did audition for Star Wars, but so did about 500 other actors. It was lots of people doing that.” But as was fated by “Weapon of Choice,” Walken was all along meant to be the Emperor in Dune.
The Dune: Part Two press tour has sadly come to an end — which is literally the only negative to come from the movie’s US release on March 1st. The film has garnered rave reviews for immersive cinematography, career-defining acting performances, and ushering in a new era for science fiction cinema and action movies across genres.
Needless to say, the film is worth the three hour run time — and, we do need to have a conversation about these 3 hour movies. We need to start having intermissions or something. But, dare I say, all that time flies by. Immersed in the sands of Arrakis and blessed with constant close-ups of Timmy and Zendaya, who could complain?
Perhaps that’s why I still can’t stop thinking about the Dune 2 press tour.
Dune 2 Cast: Who is in Dune: Part Two?
The Dune: Part Two press tour was one for the ages. It helps that the Dune 2 cast is legendary. The carpets and press junkets included Gen Z juggernauts such as Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya alongside Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, and Anya Taylor Joy. If that wasn’t enough, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, and Rebecca Ferguson also graced the press tour with their presence. The only thing missing was a cameo from Oscar Issac as the ghost of Duke Atreides past or something — a girl can dream.
With such a stacked Dune cast and 166 minutes of frame by frame excellence, you’ll be surprised to hear that heavy cuts were made. Tim Blake Nelson has expressed being “heartbroken” that his scene was cut by Denis Villeneuve. Makes you wonder what else was left on the cutting room floor — maybe Zendaya’s scenes from Dune: Part One?
The Dune: Part Two Press Tour Was Another Masterclass in Movie Marketing
Of course, these seasoned Hollywood icons know how to act on a press tour. And I’m not just talking about the media training Renee Rapp lacks. I’m talking about using a press tour to really get people talking. From matching outfits to a budding bromance between Austin Butler and Timothee Chalamet (put me in, Coach!), every stop on the press tour garnered viral social media buzz.
It might be too early to call it, but so far, the Dune: Part Two press tour is this year’s Barbie press tour. Though one was actively marketing products and collaborations, Dune had nothing to market but the cinema experience. Despite their differences, many of the tactics are surprisingly similar.
Here’s what I mean:
The breakdown: Both movies wanted to fill seats and promote the moviegoing experience. They did that by parading their beautiful cast in front of our face and making us run to the theater to beg for more.
The clothing: Now, it’s commonplace for actors to make their mark by making a fashion statement. But no one does it like Timmy and Zendaya. Just like Margot Robbie became Barbie through the press tour outfits, the Dune 2 cast embodied the sci-fi spirit of the film. I mean, Zendaya’s Mugler robot suit? Say absolutely less.
The scale: Just like everyone talked about Barbie, everyone is talking about Dune: Part Two. The cast pulled off a heroic, worldwide press tour, many between other projects.
The impact: I mean … it worked. Seats are filled. The reviews are pouring in, and cinema is totally alive. Dune: Part Two opened with $81.5 million domestically and $178.5 million globally just in the first weekend. Cinema really is back. Dune: Part One grossed $434.8 million globally by the time it left theaters. We are so back.
Dune 3 News: Will There Be A Dune: Part Three?
People are asking: “Does Dune: Part Two end with a cliffhanger?” In Denis Villeneuve’s imagining of the franchise, Paul Atriedes is a more complex character than he first seems. Dune: Part Two begins to explore this but the story is not through — far from it.
Villeneuve has been vocal about his eagerness to expand Paul’s story with an adaptation of Dune: Messiah to really explore Paul’s inner life. And who better to tackle a complex character than our very own Timothee Chalamet — more crying into a fireplace a la Call Me By Your Name, please!
Just like the first film was a bid to get a sequel, the Dune 2 press tour was a bid to get greenlit for the third installment. And just like we were teased with Zendaya in the first film, they’re teasing us with Anya Taylor-Joy so we’re hungry for more in movie three.
There is also a Dune prequel in the works, slated to release later this year via HBO. Entitled Dune: Prophecy, it promises to be a mini-series set about 10,000 years before Dune. While there will be no Paul, it will develop the lore of the sisterhood of Bene Gesserit, of which Rebecca Ferugson’s Lady Jessica Atreides and Charlotte Rampling’s Reverend Mother Mohiam from Denis Villeneuve’s Part One were members.
What does Dune: Part Two’s box office success mean for movies?
Famously, Timothee was given sage advice by none other than Leonardo DiCaprio to never do a superhero movie. However, I think Dune is pretty close. Timmy himself said that The Dark Knight was the movie that made him want to be an actor. So not all superhero movies are created equal. And indeed, though Dune boasts enough action to have made Timmy brolic, it’s still a prestige film at its heart.
As Marvel and Sony come out with flop after flop — sorry to Sydney Sweeney and Dakota Johnson, but no one is watching Madame Web — people are tired of the fluffy, formulaic superhero movie.
To make a movie worth going to the theaters for, it has to be worth the trip and the money. Formulaic and predictable doesn’t make the cut. But in the age of Oppenheimer and Dune, impressive and immersive films are bringing home the box office bacon. I expect the same from Paul Mescal’s Gladiator. With actors that talented, it’s a waste to obscure them with CGI and boring plotlines.
But who knows, maybe when Deadpool comes out this summer, the Blockbuster superhero movie will be king again. But for now, it’s all about Dune.
Chest-bursting aliens. Time-traveling DeLoreans. Dystopian futures. Galaxies far, far away. Science fiction is full of characters, set pieces, and scenarios that few other genres could ever get away with. Due to its often speculative nature, the most accomplished sci-fi movies can sometimes require a bit of work on the part of the viewer. Yet as fans of the genre understand, when it’s done right, a great sci-fi film is well worth the mental gymnastics that watching it might demand.
Speaking of sci-fi done right: Whether you’re a lifelong genre devotee or have never even sat through a Star Wars movie to the end, a little guidance can go a long way—and that’s exactly what we’ve got for you. When you’re ready to take your mind on a cinematic journey, check out any one (or all) of our picks for the very best science fiction movies you can watch right now.
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Dune and Dune: Part Two
“Tell them a messiah will come. They’ll wait. For centuries.” Chani (Zendaya) speaks those words early on in Dune: Part Two. She’s speaking about the prophecy that a savior will arrive to help her and her fellow Fremen, and whether or not Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) will be that messiah. She could also be talking about the wait for a truly epic adaptation of Frank Herbert’s award-winning sci-fi novel. Yes, David Lynch made one in the 1980s, and it’s a camp classic, but it is director Denis Villeneuve’s pair of films that truly bring Herbert’s story to life. Lushly designed, action-packed, and understandable even to people who’ve never touched the book, these Dunes are the real deal. If you know anything about the lore, you know there’s far too much to really get into it here, but let it be known: Villeneueve’s adaptations aren’t just mind-blowing sci-fi—they’re monumental works of art.
Arrival
While Denis Villeneuve has dabbled in a variety of genres since beginning his filmmaking career in the mid-1990s, a sci-fi milieu seems to suit him best. As if Enemy (2014) or his pair of Dune movies didn’t make that obvious, consider this: The man dared to make a sequel worthy of Ridley Scott’s genre-defining Blade Runner—and succeeded! Then there’s Arrival, which is basically a linguistics lesson wrapped in a sci-fi feature and all the more engrossing because of it. After the unexpected arrival of an alien species on Earth, linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is tasked with creating a universal language that will allow humans to speak with them, and vice versa. But she quickly comes to realize that effectively communicating with her human colleagues—who want results now—might be the bigger challenge. It’s a stark, and all too timely, reminder that progress takes time, and as such requires patience.
RoboCop
Any cursory attempt to recreate the ’80s usually goes straight for the popped collars and neon-colored everything. But a quick review of some of the decade’s most popular movies reveals a deep sense of disillusionment. Case in point: In the same year that Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) was declaring “greed is good” in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, Paul Verhoeven was unleashing one of cinema’s most subversive sci-fi flicks, which sees the mayor of Detroit hand over control of the city to the evil Omni Consumer Products (OCP), which promptly turns Motor City into a testing ground for its latest technologies. One of those creations is RoboCop (Peter Weller), a law-enforcing cyborg who is programmed with the sole intent of eradicating the city’s crime problem—until memories of his human existence find their way back into his head. Hey, it happens. Especially when you recycle the corpse of a police officer murdered in the line of duty in order to make your robot cop thing work. The film’s extreme violence initially earned it the dreaded X rating, which Verhoeven skirted with some clever editing. But the real scares are in its statement on capitalism and the power that corporations wield, which is as true today as it was nearly 40 years ago.
Inception
Anyone who has ever seen Inception knows that you probably need at least a second go-around—or 20—to fully understand its many complexities. If that is even possible. The less you know about the details of the story going into it the better, but the basics are this: Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an “extractor”—a talented thief who steals his targets’ secrets by infiltrating their dreams with his trusty team of colleagues, which includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, and Tom Hardy. People still debate what happened in the film’s ending, which is just the kind of mindfuckery Christopher Nolan seems to revel in.
Star Wars V: Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back
There are only a handful of movie sequels that have somehow managed to be better than the film that spawned then, and The Empire Strikes Back is near the top of the list. The film reunites Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), and Han Solo (Harrison Ford)—the fearless threesome who made A New Hope an instant smash hit—as they yet again do their best to keep their world safe from the dastardly Darth Vader. While A New Hope dazzled with its ahead-of-its-time visual effects, The Empire Strikes Back was just as impressive—but took the Star Wars universe in a decidedly darker, and more adult, direction.
The Matrix
Today, The Matrix is part of an enormously popular franchise that includes movies, video games, and even an animated feature (The Animatrix). While all those additional pieces of the puzzle may have diluted the impact of the original film, its one-of-a-kindness still stands. In a dystopian future (really, is there any other kind?), the world is living in a simulated reality without even realizing it—until a top-notch hacker named Neo (Keanu Reeves) sees what’s happening and works to separate fact from AI-created fiction. The Wachowskis’ visionary directing, thought-provoking script, and mind-bending action sequences still have the ability to make viewers’ jaws drop. Audiences haven’t looked at spoons—or Keanu Reeves—the same way since.
The Terminator
In a different world, the studio could have won a casting argument with James Cameron, and The Terminator would star O.J. Simpson instead of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Through a fortuitous and circuitous turn of events, Cameron met with Schwarzenegger to pretend to consider him for the role of Kyle Reese in The Terminator and walked away knowing he had just found their eponymous cyborg, who time-travels from 2029 to 1984 in order to murder Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), a waitress and future mom to the kid who will save the world. Fortunately, she’s got Reese (Michael Biehn)—another time traveler—on her side. On paper, it may sound preposterous, but 40 years later The Terminator still manages to impress—and is still spawning new content.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
If The Terminator raised the bar for sci-fi films, Terminator 2: Judgment Day smashed it to pieces. Like so many cyborg movies that preceded it—including its 1984 parent film—T2 is as much a commentary on what it means to be human as it is a declaration of just how far is “too far” in the development of intelligent technology. If only early ’90s James Cameron knew what would lie ahead. The plot of this sequel essentially follows the same pattern as the original film: a Terminator (Robert Patrick) is sent to Los Angeles to kill John Connor (Edward Furlong), son of Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), before he can lead the human resistance. Once again, the Connors have a guardian angel—only this time it’s a kinder, gentler, familiar old Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who is sent to protect John. Where T2 managed to supplant its predecessor is in its VFX. As he has done so many times throughout his career, Cameron essentially had to create new technology in order to see his vision to fruition and, in doing so, led the transition from practical effects to CGI (for better or worse). Even by today’s standards, T2’s liquid metal shots are incredible to witness.
Escape From New York
John Carpenter may be better known as a master of horror, but he’s no slouch in the sci-fi department. Set in the then future year of 1997, Escape From New York offers a version of America where the country is one big war zone and the island of Manhattan is one giant maximum security prison. That’s unfortunate for the president (Donald Pleasence), as New York City is exactly where Air Force One crash-lands after an attempted hijacking, and POTUS is taken hostage by one of the country’s most dangerous crime bosses. In order to ensure the president’s safe return, the government has no choice but to enlist the help of Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), a soldier-turned-criminal who might just be the only person who can save the country from total anarchy. Are there synth scores? You betcha. Carpenter would double down on his sci-fi prowess and reteam with Russell again, just one year later, with his equally awesome The Thing (1982).
Ex Machina
While the 1980s were undoubtedly a very good time for sci-fi, the new millennium has proven that there are still plenty of wholly unique stories to be told—and Ex Machina is one of them. Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) is a programmer who is invited to the remote home of an eccentric tech billionaire (Oscar Isaac) for what he thinks is a gig helping to develop a truly groundbreaking humanoid robot. But when Caleb meets Ava (Alicia Vikander), the robot in question, it becomes clear that it is she, not the humans, who is in control. With its A-list cast, stellar directing, all-too-relevant storyline, and synchronized dance scene, Ex Machina just might be this millennium’s Blade Runner.
Back to the Future
Yes, Back to the Future is a comedy. And a family film too. Not to mention an ’80s classic. But at its heart, the time-traveling adventure of Marty McFly is sci-fi through and through. Marty (Michael J. Fox) is a cool ’80s teen who has a hot girlfriend yet somehow manages to spend most of his time hanging out with a middle-aged mad scientist (Christopher Lloyd), who turns a sweet DeLorean into a time machine. Hijinks ensue, as does a bizarre plotline involving Libyan terrorists, all of which land Marty back in 1955, where he meets the teen versions of his parents and desperately thwarts his mom’s attempts to seduce him. (That storyline could be its own movie, really.) But by interfering with the past, Marty is putting his own future at risk. Forcing him to find a way to get back to 1985—but not before inventing rock ’n’ roll as we know it.
Alien
Ridley Scott has dabbled in virtually every genre, but the bars he has set in the sci-fi world are undeniable. Two years after making his feature directorial debut with the period film The Duellists, Scott changed the science fiction game with Alien. The film follows the crew of the spacecraft Nostromo, including warrant officer Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), who respond to a distress call as they’re making their way home to Earth. This turns out to be their first mistake—especially when they realize that they’re being stalked by an unknown alien species that seems determined to make sure none of the crewmembers ever leave the planetoid. Alien introduced audiences to an array of terrifying creatures—Xenomorphs and face-huggers and chestbursters, oh my—and kicked off a notable movie franchise that will continue later this year with Alien: Romulus.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Two years after inventing the “summer blockbuster” with Jaws, Steven Spielberg made a quick pivot from vengeful sharks to mysterious extraterrestrials—a theme he would revisit again a few years later—with Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The film reunited the director with Richard Dreyfuss, who here plays a loving husband and father whose unexpected run-in with a UFO turns into an obsession that threatens to ruin the life he has built for himself. Nearly a half-century later, it remains one of the most smartly made alien movies Hollywood has ever seen by doing away with the “extra-terrestrial invasion” trope and instead focusing on the challenges that would come with the discovery of an alien life-form.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is the sci-fi movie to end all sci-fi movies, with every genre flick that has followed owing the auteur a debt of gratitude. With its epic scope, gorgeous cinematography, and its somewhat prophetic—and deeply dystopian—narrative about the potential dangers of relying too much on technology, the film is as relevant today as it was upon its initial release nearly 60 years ago. Particularly with its main storyline, which focuses on a group of men taking part in a space mission with the help of HAL 9000, a piece of AI technology that decides to go rogue. It’s not a short film, and every one of its 189 minutes is packed with prescient storytelling and ahead-of-its-time technology, making it stand out as one of the most accomplished films in cinema history.
Blade Runner
Between The Last Duel (2021) and Napoleon (2023), Ridley Scott has been on more of a historical epic kick lately. But no amount of time away from the sci-fi world could ever threaten his place as a preeminent master of the genre. While he made his name with Alien, he achieved icon status with Blade Runner. The setting: Los Angeles, 2019. (Stick with us here.) Flying cars are a thing, as are bioengineered humanoids known as replicants, and that’s a bad thing. Which is why there are so-called “blade runners” like Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), whose job is to find and kill these nonhuman threats to society. But when everyone looks and often acts human, where do you draw the line? Blade Runner’s complex storyline led to Scott and Ford being forced to record and attach a voice-over, which they both hated, to the film’s original release. The film has subsequently been rereleased, both theatrically and in home versions, a number of times and in different iterations. In 1992, Scott finally got to release a director’s cut of the film, which did away with the voiceover (and other elements he didn’t love), but even he didn’t have final say over that cut. Finally, in 2007, he got the chance to be the last word on every element with Blade Runner: The Final Cut. Watch ’em all and see where you land.
What is a white boy of the month? The term originated on the social media app formerly known as Twitter, as most ubiquitous pillars of stan culture do. The Twitter white boy of the month began as a joke poking fun at the cyclical nature of thirst on the internet. Almost every month, everyone’s feeds would erupt with photos and fancams of a new heartthrob — usually a young, white actor or musician with heartthrob hair — just to be replaced by the newest flavor of the month only weeks later.
Then came the ranking system. Stan communities pitted their white boys against each other, ranking them according to whether they were hot or not. But soon, as the term entered the mainstream, the internet seemed to come to a consensus: these are all our parasocial boyfriends. We should all just get along.
Thus, the internet boyfriend or the white boy of the month has become a fixture of being chronically online. The term has evolved so much that this flavor of the month doesn’t even have to be white. Often, his relevancy doesn’t even last an entire month in our minds. Blame our TikTok-addled brains but these heartthrobs are being cycled through like micro trends.
However, during award season, we are inundated with content from the same fleet of internet boyfriends — keeping them in rotation and lodging their gorgeous faces in the centers of our brain for longer. Don’t mind if I do.
We get red carpet content, heartwarming speeches, interviews, group photos — how can we choose just one white boy of the month under conditions like these? The sight of them keeps us entertained during peak Seasonal Affective Disorder months, and for that, I thank them for their service.
Callum Turner, Austin Butler, and Barry Keoghan at last night’s “Masters of The Air” premiere. Watch the series’ teaser at the link in our bio. #indiewire #fyp #austinbutler #barrykeoghan #callumturner #redcarpet #tvtok #tvtiktok
No matter who gets awarded the most statues by various guilds and academies this season, I just hope all my internet boyfriends have fun.
A Field Guide to Internet Boyfriends
If you’re overwhelmed and hot under the collar, look no further than this field guide to internet boyfriends. As talented as they are beautiful, this year’s slate of award season hotties is serving up more than a few white boys of the month and we’re eating good.
Callum Turner
If you’ve been paying attention to the indie scene, you’ve likely had a crush on actor Callum Turner for a while. This year, Callum Turner — Masters of the Air and The Boys in the Boat under his belt — he’s made it into the mainstream and straight into the running for white boy of the month. It also doesn’t hurt that Callum Turner’s girlfriend is none other than Dua Lipa. I want to be them so bad.
Notable Callum Turner Movies and TV Shows: Masters of the Air, The Boys in the Boat, The Only Living Boy in New York, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Emma
Austin Butler
If you’re an Austin Butler fan, he’s been your white boy of the month since Elvis — maybe even before if you remember him before his voice changed and took on the spirit of Elvis himself. Gorge yourself on Austin Butler photos because he’s been serving alongside Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Florence Pugh, and Anya Taylor-Joy on the Dune 2 press tour. And if that’s not enough he’s also promoting Apple TV’s Masters of the Air alongside aforementioned white boy of the month, Callum Turner.
Notable Austin Butler Movies and TV Shows: Elvis, Masters of the Air, Dune: Part Two, Once Upon A Time … in Hollywood, The Bikeriders, The Carrie Diaries
Timothée Chalamet
Timothée Chalamet’s personal life has been my Roman Empire lately. Did Timothée Chalamet dump Kylie Jenner? And what about the Selena Gomez and Kylie beef? It’s gag city, and I’m enthralled. But watching Dune 2 reminded me that I’m also enthralled by his work. The boy can act, which is why he’s been a white boy of the month since 2017.
Notable Timothée Chalamet Movies and TV Shows: Wonka, Dune, Dune: Part Two, Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, The French Dispatch, The King, Bones and All, Don’t Look Up, Interstellar, Little Women
Charles Melton
Charles Melton, known for May December (and that May December prosthetic), has truly done the impossible and transcended from Riverdale heartthrob to art house film darling. Though he was snubbed for this year’s Oscar, his career seems to be shooting up and I can’t wait for him to be an enduring award season internet boyfriend for years to come. He’s proven he’s more than just abs and a jawline — but what fantastic abs and what a fantastic jawline.
Notable Charles Melton Movies and TV Shows: Riverdale, May December, The Sun Is Also A Star, Poker Face, American Horror Stories, Bad Boys for Life
Barry Keoghan
Short kings are so up. Barry Keoghan danced into our hearts to the tune of “Murder on the Dancefloor” in Saltburn alongside Jacob Elordi. After already being applauded for his performance in 2022’s Banshees of Inisherin, he’s finally become the leading man and heartthrob he deserved to be. Sabrina girl, I so see the vision.
Notable Barry Keoghan Movies and TV Shows: Saltburn, Banshees of Inisherin, American Animals, Killing of the Sacred Deer, Eternals, Chernobyl, Dunkirk, Masters of the Air, Top Boy, The Green Knight
Archie Madekwe
One of the sleeper stars of Saltburn was Archie Madekwe, who also starred alongside David Harbour and Orlando Bloom in Gran Turismo. I hope we see more of this rising star on our screens for years to come.
Notable Archie Madekwe Movies and TV Shows: Saltburn, Gran Turismo, Midsommar, Beau is Afraid
Jeremy Allen White
All I can say is: Yes, chef. Thanks to those abs, those biceps, and a particularly thirsty Calvin Klein ad, Jeremy Allen White is not going anywhere. Just the other day he was spotted buying heaps of flowers from a farmers market in Los Angeles. Peak internet boyfriend behavior. And after The Iron Claw and The Bear, he’s sweeping up awards and showing what a force he is as an actor. And a short king.
Notable Jeremy Allen White Movies and TV Shows: The Iron Claw, The Bear, Shameless, Fingernails, Fremont, The Birthday Cake, Homecoming
Paul Mescal
Paul Mescal, park running menace of East London (IYKYK), has quickly emerged as one of Ireland’s premier heartthrobs. Thus far, all his roles have made me ugly cry. But he’s preparing for Gladiator 2 so some pure heartthrob fodder is on its way soon. But if you ever see Paul Mescal running, watch out.
Notable Paul Mescal Movies and TV Shows: Aftersun, Normal People, All of Us Strangers, Foe, Carmen, The Lost Daughter
Ayo Edebiri
Okay hear me out. Though she’s neither white nor a boy, Ayo Edebiri has been receiving very white boy of the month flavored attention on social media during award season. She’s the people’s princess but she’s also giving heartthrob, especially whenever she steps out in menswear and proves she’s a menswear god. God bless the Irish.
Notable Ayo Edebiri Movies and TV Shows: Bottoms, The Bear, The Sweet East, Theater Camp, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Abbott Elementary, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
David Jonsson
David Jonsson’s versatility is perhaps why he’s everywhere right now. From reinvigorating the romantic comedy in Rye Lane to taking a turn at Agatha Christie in Murder is Easy, he’s just showing off at this point — especially after being one of the most compelling characters in HBO’s Industry.
Notable David Jonsson Movies and TV Shows: Rye Lane, Murder is Easy, Industry, Alien: Romulus, Deep State
Dominic Sessa
Imagine going from being a random theater kid to being Twitter’s white not of the month. He lived it! Dominic Sessa, Carnegie Mellon grad (or student???), has had a whirlwind year after he was plucked from his high school (Deerfield, the same one attended by former presidents and Connor Kennedy, Taylor Swift’s underage ex) theater department to star in this indie masterpiece alongside Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Good for him and theater kids everywhere.
Notable Dominic Sessa Movies and TV Shows: The Holdovers
As with the book, the script begins with the gom jabbar scene between Paul Atreides and Reverend Mother Mohiam, except in this version the Atreides have already made their trek from Caladan to Arrakis. Right after Paul passes his test with the box, the four wise men of Thufir, Yueh, Gurney, and Duncan present Duke Leto with a wounded Fremen and three others assassinated by the Harkonnens.
HAWAT
Assassins! They trapped three of these poor fellows over there beyond the cliffs.
HALLECK
There was a worm. We had to run for it.
You can see the problem: Right off the bat, Herbert is using dialog to discuss action scenes that would be far better to see than to hear about. He’s also introducing concepts left and right (the Bene Gesserit order, the Kwizatz Haderach, sandworms, Fremen, Harkonnens) without giving any context to them.
As in Lynch’s film (and the book itself), we get those lovely inner-thought voiceovers. Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac in Part One) thinks to himself, “We’ve been on this damned planet only two days and already the Harkonnens are at work!” Often these VOs contain psychic conversations between two characters, a technique Villeneuve uses several times in Part Two, as between Feyd (Austin Butler) and Lady Fenring (Léa Seydoux).
The stage-play-esque stretches of barefaced expository dialog continue unabated when Herbert’s script introduces the world of the hedonist Harkonnens, who covet a globe of Arrakis made out of jewels in their Guild Ship decorated with pornographic paintings. Introducing a character not in Villeneuve’s film, they’re shown torturing Wanna with an “agony box” as Feyd essentially videotapes it for Wanna’s husband, Doctor Yueh, so he will do their bidding against House Atreides. She calls them “monsters,” with the Baron articulating, “Of course we are, my dear Wanna. We will do anything to regain our planet and its precious spice … We must rule Dune and the spice. We all need the spice. It lengthens our lives and you Bene Gesserit witches need the spice for your dreams.” Not quite Paddy Chayefsky.
Stilgar arrives at Leto’s Great Hall with a whole contingent (including Mapes, Kynes, and Chani) to extract the water from the dead Fremen using a deathstill. Paul tells his mother, Jessica, that he recognizes Chani from his dreams, prophesying that she will bind him to the Fremen. Stilgar gifts his people’s water to Paul, whom he instantly recognizes as the Mahdi (the messiah of legend, though it is never explained beyond that he may be “the Shortening of the Way”). Duncan joins the Fremen as an olive branch, and Mapes joins the Atreides as a house servant. On her way out of the hall, Chani gives one of those backward glances to Paul that Zendaya does so frequently in the new movies.
After Wanna unexpectedly dies during torture, the Baron plans to use Yueh to kill Paul with a hunter seeker while preserving Yueh’s wife in a “crystallis” (a crystal case). Count Fenring (who will lead the Emperor’s Sardaukar to attack the Atreides disguised in Harkonnen uniforms) arrives at the Guild Ship. Disgusted by Harkonnens and acting only in the Emperor’s interest, he takes the recording of Wanna’s torture to hand off to Yueh.
On Arrakis, the Duke’s remaining soldiers and luggage (including atomics) are delivered, with Gurney playing accompaniment on his Baliset. Herbert was reportedly insistent that the playing of this instrument appear in the film, something which was filmed but cut from Lynch’s film and Villeneuve’s first Dune, but which finally appears in Part Two. Herbert then includes the scene where Duke Leto rescues the carryall crew from the worm, almost beat-for-beat like Lynch’s, though Villeneuve gave the scene more juice by having Paul be nearly killed. One great moment acknowledges the injustice served to the Fremen as two of them (guides) try to board Leto’s ornithopter:
KYNES (VO)
We have no room for them.
PAUL (VO)
There’s a capsule history of the Fremen!
We get a cool scene of Duncan fighting literally back-to-back with Stilgar against a squad of Harkonnen amid the dunes. Stilgar chastises Duncan for using his shield (it attracts the worm), then they capture a Harkonnen who warns them there is a traitor in their midst. The scene where Mapes cuts herself to show fealty to Jessica is there, as is the scene of Paul and Gurney practice-fighting (although sans shields) and the hunter seeker’s attack on Paul.
Because Herbert cannot let much go, we get the banquet scene that has been left out of both theatrical adaptations of Dune because the political machinations it reflects are not essential to the plot (Leto is going to die soon anyway). The banquet winds up eating up nearly 25 pages of the script before it is interrupted by Count Fenring’s attack on the Atreides fortress with the aid of Yueh lowering the shields.
It’s March, and we’ve got our first big movie for 2024 in Warner Bros. and Legendary’s Dune: Part Two. Even as its release date shifted around a few times, there’s been a palpable excitement in the air for the second half of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel, and that was before it was getting high marks from nearly everyone. Financially, it’s starting off on the right foot and doing better than originally projected.
Spoilers of the Week April 24-29
Per the Hollywood Reporter, Dune has shored up $178.5 million in its starting weekend. $97 million of this came internationally; in regions like France and South Korea, it released a few days ahead of its March 1 date in North America. For North America, it netted $81.5 million, double the opening take of Dune: Part One back in 2021 and also the highest-grossing movie of 2024 to date. The film was initially tracked to be in the $150-$175 million range, but its small surpassing of that suggests it may have a long tail ahead of it.
Beyond its collective star power and heavy marketing, folks seemed to groove with Part One in the years since its release, if they weren’t already into it. It also helps that there’s nothing else quite on this level in terms of blockbuster scale, and it looks like something worth going out to see in the theaters: per Deadline, $32.2 million of its global take came from IMAX screenings, and it’s now the second-biggest global weekend for an IMAX film behind Batman v Superman in 2016.
Tentpole-wise, the month of March has some other big films on the horizon: Kung Fu Panda 4 drops next week for the kids, along with Blumhouse’s Imaginary. Then we’ve got Ghostbusters: Frozen Empiretowards the end of the month on March 22, concluding with WB and Legendary’s own Godzilla x Kong: The New Empireon the 29th. At the moment, Dune has word of mouth on its side, ditto a desire to see this all come to a close with an eventual adaptation of Dune Messiah and those popcorn buckets, so time will tell how those movies fare against it.
This is not hope! This is the Midnight Boys! They bring you their instant reactions to the hotly anticipated Dune: Part Two (8:14). They talk about the blockbuster masterpiece and how they think it should stack up with the likes of the sci-fi greats and what makes this film so memorable.
Hosts: Charles Holmes, Van Lathan, Jomi Adeniran, and Steve Ahlman Senior Producer: Steve Ahlman Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopal Social: Jomi Adeniran
The second part of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune adaptation, efficiently titled Dune: Part Two, contains a single line that is as much about fans of Frank Herbert’s book as it is about its protagonist, Paul Atreides. It’s delivered by Chani, Paul’s concubine in Herbert’s novel and equal/skeptic in Villeneuve’s meticulously crafted reimagining. “You want to control people?” Chani says, rhetorically. “Tell them a messiah will come. They’ll wait. For centuries.”
Dune acolytes didn’t have to wait for centuries, but the anticipation for a well-executed, faithful adaptation of Herbert’s 1965 book is the stuff of legend. Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky tried and failed to make the film in the 1970s. David Lynch made one in the ’80s that’s a camp classic but struggles to stay coherent. Sprawling and intricate, Dune’s pages carry an all-but-unfilmable weight. Unfilmable to anyone but Villeneuve.
Except, in Villeneueve’s eyes, Paul isn’t a messiah. That’s the trick. Dune: Part Two fulfills the prophecy of what Dune can be rather than what it was. For years, the Dune novel has been treated, by directors, and many readers, as a hero’s journey—the quest of a young man in a strange land who saves the people of the resource-rich planet Arrakis, the Fremen, from foreign rule while working out some Freudian issues along the way. Swap in Luke for Paul and Darth Vader for Baron Harkonnen and it’s Star Wars all the way down (though Dune did it first). No tension, just a blink of internal struggle, and then Paul—the messiah, the Lisan al Gaib—rides to the rescue on the back of a sandworm.
Dune: Part Two, picking up where 2021’s Dune left off, buffs out the white-savior sheen of that telling of the story. Instead it presents Paul (Timothée Chalamet) as a guy aware that his hero status is just the result of decades of myth-building by his mother, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), and the Bene Gesserit (basically, space witches). They’ve been promising the Fremen a savior for years, and when Paul arrives and Stilgar (Javier Bardem) starts yammering on about prophecies fulfilled, Lisan al Gaib whispers to his mom, “Look how your Bene Gesserit propaganda has taken root.”
Jessica’s role, like the one of Chani (Zendaya), has far more dimensions in Dune (the movies) than it did in Dune (the book). Villeneuve told me this deepening of womens’ perspectives would happen back before he even released the first installment. He wanted equality between the genders, and for Harkonnen to not be a caricature, like Ursula on a way-worse power trip. “The book is probably a masterpiece,” he said when I spoke to him in 2021, “but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect.” Its heteronormative patriarchal shortcomings provided space for him to explore. Chani now fills the role of warrior who refuses to bow to her boyfriend and doesn’t buy the messiah bullshit. Paul, as my colleague Jason Kehe so succinctly put it when connecting the dots between Dune and Burning Man celebrants, goes “into the desert, becomes a messiah, and ends up a goddamn monster.”
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Iâll admit it here: I didnât read Dune. But Iâll also swear on my life that Iâve had Frank Herbertâs massive odyssey of a novel on my TBR long before the new adaptation, Dune: Part One(let alone Dune: Part Two), was set in motion by Denis Villeneuve. I’m not new to this, but I’m also not true to this.
Itâs my fatherâs favorite book, so I grew up half-grateful, half-scornful he didnât name me Chani. Now that Zendaya is playing that role, Iâm still ambivalent about the choice.
Which is to say, all these long years, I still havenât even turned to the first page. Therefore, I donât know how it ends â specifically if Prince Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) gets the girl in the end. I guess Iâll find out on March 1st, Dune: Part Twoâs long-awaited release date (shoutout to the SAG strike). But until then, I have even hotter Dune tea to contemplate: Did Timothee dump Kylie Jenner?
Where have these two been? No Kylie and Timothee Paparazzi Pictures, No Nothing.
For a couple comprised of two of the hottest celebrities alive, their relationship has been so amorphous in the public eye. They havenât been taking over tabloids with not-so-candid appearances. In fact, all the Kylie and Timothee pictures have been rare and somewhat tame. Yet, they also havenât been completely hush-hush. This middle ground is somewhat unsatisfying. After Kylie and Timothee pictures broke the internet at Beyonce’s Renaissance tour and then again at the US Open, 2023’s odd couple have been fairly quiet. This year, they only came up for air to smooch on camera at the Golden Globes. Now, with radio silence persisting ad Timothee in his flop era, some wonder if this unlikely pair has run its course. I mean, even the famously private Tom Holland and Zendaya are more conspicuous than these two.
Are Kylie and Timothee actually dating?
I will say, Iâm a hater. I never loved this pairing. Not because I have some parasocial claim on our generationâs Leonardo DiCaprio. Nor because I have some purist notion that he is somehow âtoo goodâ for Kylie Jenner just because his name is a little French. And, unlike my darling Aaron Taylor Johnson, the Kylie Jenner/Timothee Chalamet age difference is perfectly acceptable â only two years, even though she sometimes looks like his mom (sorry, Miss Girl!).
When it comes to celebs, I think they all deserve each other. But since itâs become so ubiquitous that Kris Jenner orchestrates her daughtersâ lives with the dexterity and precision of a chess grandmaster, nothing the KarJenner clan does surprises me. The most gossip these two ever gave was Selena Gomez Gate.
Even if I believe itâs a real relationship â I mean, câmon, who could resist either of them â thereâs absolutely nothing charming about the fact that it probably had to be Kris-approved to come into the world and will have to be Kris-approved to come out of it.
Thatâs not sexy. Thatâs not what I want from my Timothee Chalamet dating rumors. I miss when he was making out on boats in grainy pictures with Lily-Rose Depp and Eiza Gonzalez. I wish for him what Dua Lipa has with Callum Turner. What Sabrina Carpenter has with Barry Keoghan. Hell, even what the American Royal Couple Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have. Not this sanitized version of a surprise couple.
So … Did Timothee Dump Kylie?
If the rumors are true: I might get my wish after all. Reports (re: Deuxmoi and Reddit) say that Timothee was acting very single on a night out after the Dune: Part Two premiere in New York City. While his committed costars Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Zendaya slept, Timmy was allegedly out partying in SoHo like a singleton. Oh, to be young and hot in New York.
Where was Kylie? Putting Stormi to bed, one can assume. But was she waiting for a call from her man? Or is that not her man anymore? If not, her recent paparazzi pics in her Khy bodycon dress might have to be reclassified as a revenge dress. We’ll have to wait and see if more Kylie and Timothee paparazzi pictures surface. Though Kris Jenner, I implore you: if there are more Kylie and Timothee pictures, please keep them to yourself.
Take this all with a grain of salt, of course.
I may not know much about Dune, but one thing I know for certain is who pulls the strings in this town. When Kris Jenner deems the timing right, and only then, will the news break (and the Kylie and Timothee pictures cease for good)â not with a bang, I fear, but a whimper. I can only hope Dune: PartTwo goes out with a grander finale than this controversial, but ultimately uninteresting. coupling.
Reports of the death of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) proved greatly exaggerated.
When it finally touched down in theaters three years ago, the most notable characteristic of Denis Villeneuve’s first Dune film was probably the fact that it existed at all. A properly monumental adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel had been something of a cinematic white whale (or worm, if you will), defeating filmmakers as illustrious as David Lynch and Alejandro Jodorowsky. After several decades’ worth of failed and abandoned attempts, Villeneuve (Arrival, Blade Runner 2049) and his collaborators pulled off an impressive achievement, bringing the cherished literary science-fiction tale to life in grandiose and relatively faithful fashion, all without sacrificing that essential blockbuster currency, spectacle.
Dune: Part One proved to be a thrilling and visionary work of epic sci-fi, although it had to shed some of the thematic sophistication of the book to attain such lofty heights. The feature hinted at the source material’s weighty social, religious, and ecological themes, but it was generally more focused on introducing the audience to the indelible, neo-feudal universe that Herbert created. The most notable thing about Dune: Part Two, then, is that it brings these themes to the forefront in a way that the first chapter could never quite manage, while also still delivering plenty of visceral action and awestruck world-building.
Picking up almost exactly where the previous feature (somewhat abruptly) left off, Part Two finds exiled-and-presumed-dead noble scion Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) warily accepting the hospitality of the Fremen, the native people of the desert planet Arrakis. Both mother and son quickly find their place in this new world. Paul learns the ways of the Freemen guerilla warriors who sabotage the spice-extraction efforts of Arrakis’s colonizers, the brutal House Harkonnen. Meanwhile, Jessica — a member of the enigmatic witch cabal the Bene Gesserit — assumes an esteemed spiritual role, exploiting the messianic myths of the Fremen and paving the way for her son’s ascendency. This doesn’t sit well with Paul, who is more focused on assimilating with his new allies and winning the affection of the hard-edged fighter Chani (Zendaya).
This summary barely scratches the arid surface of Dune: Part Two, which, like its predecessor, is fairly dense with intergalactic politicking and mystic gobbledygook. Villeneuve and co-writer Jon Spaihts approach this material with unflagging gravity, however. Their characters whisper urgently and roar defiantly, treating every moment with life-or-death, cosmic-scale weight. (Javier Bardem’s true-believer Fremen leader Stilgar is the only one who cracks the occasional droll joke.) Fortunately, Villeneuve excels at maintaining this kind of sobriety for two (or three) hours at a time, wooing the viewer with the potency of jaw-dropping sights and bone-rattling sounds. The absurdity of all the arcane sci-fi nonsense dissolves in the reactive heat of Dune’s epic bulk and overwhelming sensations. By the time the film visits a gladiatorial arena roaring under the monochromatic light of a black sun — complete with ink-blot fireworks — the viewer won’t even notice how silly the characters sound when they say phrases like “Kwisatz Haderach.”
Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and Chani (Zendaya) explore their attraction.
Chalamet rises to the occasion in this second chapter, holding on to Paul’s deep ambivalence while allowing his idealism, arrogance, and (eventually) holy zeal to fully emerge. In comparison, Zendaya’s role doesn’t demand as much of her, but Villeneuve’s revisions to the story at least give Chani more to do, lending her relationship with Paul a stronger and more mature sense of tragedy. Amid a gamut of new faces — Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux, and Christopher Walken among them — Austin Butler is the showstopper as the bloodthirsty Harkonnen princeling Feyd-Rautha. It’s no small thing to upstage Sting’s unhinged, weirdly hypersexual take on the character from Lynch’s 1984 film version, but Butler gets there, albeit via a very different route. (Imagine Dracula as an edgelord albino salamander with a knife fetish and you’re halfway there.)
However, where Dune: Part Two truly impresses has less to do with its performances than the film’s facility for balancing blockbuster extravagance and stickier, more cerebral matters. Part One was concerned first and foremost with efficiently introducing an encyclopedia’s worth of people, places, and concepts. Consequently, the deeper aspects of Herbert’s story were mostly confined to the film’s characterization of Paul. This new feature, in contrast, tackles the novel’s thorniest themes head-on, illustrating the power of Chosen One tropes, the threat of runaway zealotry, and the temptation to believe your own bull plop. Indeed, Dune: Part Two might be the most clear-eyed film about saviors and schisms since Monty Python’s Life of Brian. (Seriously.)
Paul is beset by disturbing visions of a coming holy war that he is desperate to avert, but the future may already be beyond his power to control. Scheming and malignant forces surround him — political, economic, and religious — and the foes that want to eliminate him outright somehow seem less dangerous than those who want to wield him as a weapon. Most insidiously, the Bene Gesserit have been manipulating inter-galactic politics for centuries, seeding worlds with superstitions and nudging noble genealogies for their own inscrutable ends. Dune: Part Two insists that to use faith and prophecy in these kinds of cynical power games is to play with fire. As more than one character learns to their horror, a controlled burn can become a raging inferno in the blink of an eye.
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