Timothée Chalamet returns as Austin Butler joins star-studded, spice-laden epic Dune: Part Two

“The movies that shake the theatres, those are some of the most inspiring ones to me.”

Timothée Chalamet is one of the biggest and most in-demand names in Hollywood right now. He’s a cinematic purist – and his role in the Dune series may be the most “cinematic” of them all.

“Like many people in college, I got into the early work of Marlon Brando, James Dean … but the films that originally made me wanna act were films like The Dark Knight or Inception, Gladiator, you know, things that really shook the theatre.”

Lucky for Chalamet, Dune is of the same vintage.

The highly anticipated sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of the classic sci-fi novel by Frank Herbert, Dune: Part Two is a space opera boasting epic landscapes, a throttling score from Hans Zimmer, striking costumes – and an epic run-time of nearly 3 hours.

In it, Chalamet is back as the young prince (and supposed messiah) Paul Atreides alongside new cast member Austin Butler who plays Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, the brutal heir of the opposing Harkonnen clan.

He joins a plethora of A-listers to round out the stellar cast for the second trip to Arrakis.

“It’s not every day you get to have actual physical stakes and a high point of a movie surrounded by Javier Bardem, Christopher Walken, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Charlotte Rampling…” Chalamet said, trailing off like an award winner forgetting names at the podium.

“Just epic. Epic as an experience.”

Sandworms, spice, and space: oh my

Reckoning with war, colonialism, religion, and destiny, Part Two picks up right where Part One left off – and Chalamet’s the first to say he’s thrilled to be back in the universe.

“It’s a dream come true, and sort of a relief,” he said.

“It felt like excising something out of my system that was dying to be released, you know, to complete this story of Paul Atreides, and finish off the groundwork we laid out in the first film.”

Zendaya returns, too – and while her role in the first film was limited to just a few minutes of screen time, here she takes centre stage, starring alongside Paul as the Fremen warrior, Chani.

This time around, though, the film is as much an epic sci-fi journey as it is a love story.

“Unbelievable, and just a testament to Denis [Villeneuve],” Chalamet said of the above.

“I mean, how many directors could do a great sci-fi movie, how many directors could do a great romance, and how many directors could somehow do both at the same time? So, hats off to Denis.”

Mind-blowing makeovers

Butler’s inclusion into the series as one of the key antagonists marks a sharp shift from his recent high-profile role as Elvis in the 2022 biopic – and it’s fair to say we’ve never seen him quite like this.

“That’s fair,” he responds, smiling.

Ironically, the first time he caught a glimpse of himself as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen came while he was in the middle of Elvis-mania.

“I was in London, promoting Elvis, and Donald [Mowat, makeup artist] came out with this look with the incredible makeup team. They put on a cap, and we tried the teeth.

“It’s a real gift as an actor when you look in the mirror and you don’t see yourself, because you can just suspend disbelief and you give in… it was really fun.”

An antagonist to Chalamet’s Paul Atreides, Butler relished the opportunity to dive deep into the evil pool for this role.

“It was one of the most fun times I’ve had as an actor, because there’s so much possibility, and you’re not bound by any of the confines that you are in everyday life,” he said.

“There’s no sort of usual moral centre or anything that you have to abide by, so I just could play.”

Return to Arrakis

Canadian director Villeneuve is known for his visually striking, large-scale films like Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, and Sicario, but it’s the Dune universe that he’s fully invested in – at least for now.

“First of all, I didn’t go back”, he tells ABC News Breakfast when asked about returning to Arrakis, the planet on which Dune: Part Two is set.

“I stayed on the planet!”

“We finished the first movie, we released it, and then went to pre-production [for Dune: Part Two] right away.”

Although this time, it’s on a much grander scale.

“There’s a scene where Paul is riding a worm, a scene that I envisioned when I was a kid,” he said, clearly in awe of the childhood plan coming to life.

“It took months and months of research, development, and shooting. It was by far the most technical, difficult thing I have ever done.”

Befitting of a cinematic epic that would have made a young Chalamet proud.