Dune: Part Three opens with a 55-ton spaceship buried in black sand
Production designer Patrice Vermette says the opening sequence of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three features a 55-tonne spaceship buried in the ground as rain falls around a battle. Speaking to Variety at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, Vermette said the crew built one ship, filmed inside and out, and used a crane and pumps to manage the scene. The film is scheduled to open on 18 December.
Bottom line — Vermette says Villeneuve’s instruction for Dune: Part Three was not to repeat sets.
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Vermette told Variety that the scene began with designs of black sand and ships attacking a planet.
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He said the ship was lifted by crane every two days while a pump system removed water from the rain-soaked set.
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Vermette described the film as a “major spectacle”, comparing its scale to a fireworks finale.
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According to Variety, the story draws on Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah and takes place 17 years after Dune: Part Two.
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Vermette said industrial septic tanks inspired the dark Harkonnen world of Giedi Prime in the earlier films.