Timothee Chalamet expresses mixed sentiments over filming ‘Dune III’: ‘emotive’

Timothee Chalamet admitted that he felt nostalgic, and like he was losing a part of himself, while filming Dune Part III.

The 30-year-old stars in the final instalment of the sci-fi franchise and reprises his role as Paul Atreides, 17 years after the events of the second film, and follows the consequences of his rise to power as the galactic emperor.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the actor said the role, which he first stepped into in 2019, was the most "emotive" for him on a personal level and described feeling nostalgic while filming the final movie.

Speaking at a Q&A Imax fan event, which was live-streamed from Los Angeles across the world including London, Toronto and Berlin, he said, "This is the most emotive on a personal level, not necessarily the character, but I've been living with this for so long.”

"I’m so proud to live with it and so proud to work with Denis and his family,” Chalamet mentioned, adding, "I felt there was a finality in the exercise that I was kind of nostalgic about, even the moment, even though I was 29 when we shot this, it still felt like, I was losing a part of me by getting through it."

The upcoming film is based on Dune Messiah, the second novel in Frank Herbert’s 1960s series and Chalamet said of the upcoming film, "This is a different movie. I think the first two are sort of siblings, and then this one is really its own energy, and I love that approach.”

"I was familiar with this crew with this family, but there’s a new tone to this,” he added.

Villeneuve echoed Chalamet’s comments and said the final instalment to the Dune trilogy is a "very different beast" and more "intense" and "emotional" story, saying, "It will be the third and last Dune movie. It’s a Dune movie but it is a very different rhythm and its more intense."

Meanwhile Chalamet said he was "very grateful" to the filmmaker for making the third film so soon after the second, which was released in 2024, after originally planning to do it "in a few years from now."

The Canadian director explained, "We did both movies back to back and I was quite tired and said to everybody, 'Listen, I’m taking a break,’”

"I went back home and two things happened. First of all I kept waking up in the night with images and these images started to get stronger and stronger,” he recalled.

"I felt an appetite and a joy and a desire to finish that story and I felt a near responsibility. I wrote the movie right away and here we are. I’m really excited,” Villeneuve said of completing Dune Part III.

Dune Part III sees a number of actors reprise their roles including Zendaya as Chani, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica and Spanish actor Javier Bardem who returns as Stilgar and will be released on December 18, 2026.