Dune: Part Three filming in Abu Dhabi – everything we know so far

Stars Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya and Jason Momoa are set to return to the Liwa desert this month

Timothee Chalamet in Dune: Part Two. Photo: Warner Bros Pictures

The stars of sci-fi film Dune: Part Three will head to Abu Dhabi this month as filming begins for the third instalment of the blockbuster franchise. Hollywood actor Jason Momoa, who plays swordmaster Duncan Idaho, was spotted in Dubai at the weekend at a brand launch. He will be joined soon by the rest of the film's stellar cast, including lead stars Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya.

Abu Dhabi was confirmed as a shooting location for Dune: Part Three by Abu Dhabi Film Commission in August, who said filming was set to begin "later this year".

The commission, along with Abu Dhabi's Creative Media Authority, will provide logistical support, while production company Image Nation will be a production partner for the UAE leg of the shoot.

Here's what we know so far about Dune: Part Three in Abu Dhabi.

What role does Abu Dhabi play?

Dune: Part Two is one of several blockbuster productions that was filmed in the UAE. Photo: Abu Dhabi Film Commission

“The sweeping dunes of Liwa desert return to the big screen as filming begins in Abu Dhabi later this year for the next chapter in the Dune saga,” Abu Dhabi Film Commission posted on Instagram.

Both Dune and Dune: Part Two, which were major box office blockbusters, were also shot in Abu Dhabi, with the desert's vast, open landscape serving as the setting for the fictional planet Arrakis.

An entire village was built in the middle of the desert for the production of Dune: Part Two, with more than 1,000 people working on the film. “What I found in Abu Dhabi is unmatchable. There’s a scale to the dunes and the desert in a variety of shapes that we thought was absolutely mesmerising,” director Denis Villeneuve said in 2021.

Denis Villeneuve in the Liwa desert filming Dune. Photo: Abu Dhabi Film Commission

“There are also some climatic conditions there that were perfect for us because of the proximity to the city; it's like a strange kind of haze in that air that I was looking for that matched totally with the look of the film.”

There was a significant jump in Abu Dhabi's involvement between the first and second films in the series. The first instalment – released in 2021 – comprised five days of filming in the emirate. For the second, the production team spent almost a month in the desert.

Which stars will be in Abu Dhabi?

Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya in Dune: Part Two. Photo: Warner Bros Pictures

Besides Zendaya and Chalamet, the rest of the film's cast are set to return, including Florence Pugh, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin, as well as franchise newcomer Robert Pattinson. Momoa, who was in the first film, but not the second, is set to reprise his role in Dune: Part Three.

UAE casting agency Miranda Davidson Studios has also been advertising to fill roles for extras in a “Hollywood blockbuster” being filmed in Abu Dhabi. While the company did not specify which film the casting calls were for, they are looking for babies, children, teens and adult women for roles for a "Hollywood project filming in Liwa”.

Their call for actors "with brown skin and curly hair" also matches the descriptions of the Fremen, the tribe that inhabits Arrakis, who are distinguished by their fierce fighting abilities and adeptness at surviving in their planet's harsh conditions. Frank Herbert, author of Dune, from which the film is adapted, based the Fremen on the desert-dwelling Bedouin.

Zendaya and Bardem play Fremen in the film.

When is filming taking place?

Dave Bautista, left, and Josh Brolin promote Dune: Part Two in Abu Dhabi in February 2024. Chris Whiteoak / The National

While the exact dates of the shoots are yet to be confirmed, Miranda Davidson Studios said the expected job date for extras was between October and November. For their last casting call, for a girl who will serve as a “double” for the main child actor, availability requested for the actor is for 15 days, between October 29 and November 12 in Liwa and Al Ain. Dune: Part Two also filmed in November.

Momoa's arrival in the UAE is also a good sign that production is set to begin imminently.

What is Dune: Part Three about?

In the last film, Paul Atreides (Chalamet) united with the Fremen on Arrakis to seek revenge against House Harkonnen for the destruction of his family, eventually becoming emperor. Dune: Part Three will centre on the consequences of his power grab as he unleashes a "holy war" between houses and the fall-out with his love Chani (Zendaya), who is horrified by his transformation. It will be at least loosely based on 1969's Dune Messiah, the second book in Frank Herbert's acclaimed series.