Dune 2020: Watch The First Trailer

Things are still relatively uncertain with film release dates pushing into the back half of the year--Wonder Woman 84 is reportedly in position to bump Dune out of its set release date of December 18, pushing it to 2021. But be that as it may, we've still been given the very first trailer for the new movie from Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Blade Runner 2049). For now we're going to hold out hope that it will see the light of day before the new year.

Until now, we've only had a small handful of stills and behind-the-scenes photos to work with when it came to getting a sense of what Villeneuve's Dune might look like, but our days of speculating have finally come to a close. The first trailer for Dune has arrived and you can take a look at it below. After that, be sure to check out our Dune trailer breakdown and rundown on all of Dune's characters.

The trailer showcases the core Dune cast, including Timothee Chalamet as Paul Atreides, Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto, and Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica. It explores some moments that will no doubt be familiar to fans of the franchise in any of its incarnations--like the Gom Jabbar Test Of Humanity and the terrifying sandworms that prowl the wasteland of Arrakis. We even get a very brief look at some of the evil Harkonnens, led by Stellan Skarsgard's Baron Vladamir and Dave Bautista's Glossu Raban.

For the uninitiated, the world of Dune can be pretty intimidating--it's densely packed with tricky, complicated lore and focuses on a near-Shakespearean revenge plot between two warring families--House Atreides and House Harkonnen--as they try to outmaneuver one another politically. The novel series includes six main books and 13 different prequels and sequels.

Villeneuve's Dune is the third (completed) attempt at adapting Frank Herbert's sci-fi novels to live-action, joining the 1984 film directed by David Lynch and the 2000 TV miniseries that aired on the Sci-Fi channel in North America. There was also an acclaimed documentary titled Jodorowsky's Dune about auteurist director Alejandro Jodorowsky (Tusk, The Holy Mountain) and his failed attempt to adapt the novel back in the 1970s.

Dune releases in theaters on December 18.