If last week’s trailer for Dune: Part Three wasn’t enough to tide you over until the film’s Dec. 18 release, you’re in luck. You might be able to catch exclusive footage from Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic before screenings of The Odyssey.
Roughly four minutes of footage from Dune: Part Three will play before IMAX 70mm screenings of The Odyssey. The large film format is The Odyssey director Christopher Nolan’s preferred way for audiences to see the movie, and only 41 theaters in the world are capable of screening it.
If you’re one of the lucky few who snagged tickets to these sold-out screenings, you’ll be able to head back to the universe of Dune a little bit sooner. Just be sure to get to the screening on time! However, if you got tickets to any other format, including non-70mm IMAX, you’ll tragically be Dune-less for a little while longer.
Last year, The Odyssey pulled a similar marketing tactic, showing six minutes of footage before IMAX 70mm re-releases of both Sinners and One Battle After Another. While that footage was exclusive to the 10 theaters showing those re-releases, the same footage later screened in front of all IMAX showings of Avatar: Fire and Ash. Hopefully, Dune: Part Three will keep following The Odyssey‘s playbook and similarly broaden its footage to more screenings.
What happens in the Dune: Part Three footage that plays before The Odyssey?
Javier Bardem in “Dune: Part Three.”
Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Now, what if you didn’t get IMAX 70mm tickets to The Odyssey, but desperately want to know what happens in it? You’ve come to the right place.
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Earlier this year, at CinemaCon, Warner Bros. screened footage from a battle sequence in Dune: Part Three. The same footage screened again, in IMAX, at July 8’s trailer release event, at which Villeneuve said “a glimpse of this scene” would play before The Odyssey.
Having seen the extended footage, I can confirm it is spectacular. It depicts a fleet of ships flying down to an unnamed planet. Onboard the ships is an army of soldiers, including Fremen leader Stilgar (Javier Bardem), ready to wage war in the name of now-Emperor Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet). The planet they head towards is a far cry from Arrakis: cloudy, muddy, and rainy as can be. For some of the Fremen in the group’s ranks, this is their first time seeing water fall from the sky, making it a monumental occasion.
That wonder dissipates once the soldiers land and the planet’s surface becomes a horrifying war zone. A gargantuan gun tower rises from the ground. Lasers mow down Stilgar’s soldiers. An explosion shakes the ground (and the theater). The entire sequence is grimy and visceral and loud, reminiscent of classic war movies like Saving Private Ryan. It marks a major shift from the sandy battles of the first two Dune films, making it a perfect introduction to the darker horrors of the galaxy under Paul’s rule.
A shortened version of this sequence is what plays before The Odyssey, so all of the details above may not be present before those screenings. However, come December, everyone headed to Dune: Part Three will be able to catch this battle in all its terrible, thundering glory.
The Odyssey is now in theaters. Dune: Part Three hits theaters Dec. 18.
