Rebecca Ferguson Confirms Her Entire ‘Dune: Part Three’ Role Is Already In The Trailer
Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ saga has spent years building one of the most immersive science fiction worlds on the big screen, and the countdown to its final chapter is now well underway. ‘Dune Part Three’ is set to close out the trilogy this December, adapting Frank Herbert’s 1969 novel ‘Dune Messiah’ and picking up the story well after the events audiences last saw play out on Arrakis.
The film jumps forward significantly from where ‘Dune Part Two’ left off, landing the audience seventeen years into Paul Atreides’ reign as emperor after his followers overthrew the rest of the galaxy, leaving billions dead. Timothée Chalamet returns as Paul, and the ensemble includes Zendaya, Florence Pugh, Javier Bardem and Anya Taylor Joy, with Robert Pattinson joining as the shapeshifting Scytale.
One returning face has generated its own wave of conversation, though, and that is Rebecca Ferguson’s Lady Jessica. According to a post from film account DiscussingFilm, Ferguson addressed her presence in the threequel directly, telling Extra TV, “I’ve got one scene and you’ve seen it. It’s literally in the trailer.”
That comment lines up with what Ferguson has been saying for months about her limited screen time in the finale. She has confirmed her role in the next chapter is extremely limited, essentially just one scene, and while she has kept a great attitude about it, she has admitted it comes with a little emotional whiplash. The moment in question shows Jessica offering Paul some chilling advice as he grapples with the fallout of the war he started.
Ferguson has been candid about how strange the experience felt on set. The scene has Paul seeking her insight into what his father might have done in his shoes, and she chillingly replies, “Your father never started a war.” Beyond that single moment, Jessica’s presence in the story mirrors the source material closely, since the character is mostly absent from Herbert’s ‘Dune Messiah’, the novel that ‘Dune Part Three’ is based on.
Villeneuve has described the tone of this final installment as a marked shift from what came before. He has called it a very different movie from the first two, noting that if the first film was about a boy exploring a new world and the second was a war movie, this one plays as a thriller that is action packed and tense. He added that the heartbeat of the film still rests on the relationship between Paul and Chani.
‘Dune Part Three’ arrives in theaters on December 18, the same day as ‘Avengers Doomsday’, setting up what fans have already dubbed a ‘Dunesday’ showdown at the multiplex. Whether Jessica’s single scene ends up as a quiet farewell or a launching pad for something bigger in the saga’s next chapter remains to be seen once the film finally lands.
With Lady Jessica reduced to one scene and Paul Atreides facing the consequences of the empire he built, how do you think her limited return will land once ‘Dune Part Three’ finally hits theaters?
