With comparisons to mega franchises Star Wars and Games of Thrones being thrown its way, Dune is fast becoming one of the most-anticipated movies of the year. The source material is one of science fiction's most important and popular works ever to be published. Though there have been prior attempts to adapt Dune, those efforts were found lacking on both the big and small screens. Many believe that the property is simply unfilmable, and yet, there are clearly those still desperate to try, with star Timothee Chalamet explaining why he was drawn to Dune and the lead role of Paul Atreides.

"The immediately appealing thing about Paul was the fact that in a story of such detail and scale and world-building, the protagonist is on an anti-hero's-journey of sorts. He thinks he's going to be sort of a young general studying his father and his leadership of a fighting force before he comes of age, hopefully a decade later, or something like that."

Over the last few days, we have been given our first official look at Timothee Chalamet as Paul, as well as the rest of the star-studded ensemble cast, all dressed to the nines in their space gear. Chalamet is looking surprisingly cool for a guy who lives on a desolate desert planet inhabited by giant worms, with his general look receiving comparisons to that of Star Wars anti-hero Kylo Ren. Having proven his talent is quieter movies, this will be Chalamet's first foray into blockbuster territory.

The detail and vast world-building that Timothée Chalamet refers to is a large part of why many have struggled to adapt Dune successfully over the years. The novel itself is huge and full of intricate plotting and complex information, something that is not always that easy to bring to life on the big screen.

One way that director Denis Villeneuve plans to navigate this is by telling the story across two movies, and thereby give himself enough time to lay everything out properly. Villeneuve has even gone as far as to say that he "...would not agree to make this adaptation of the book with one single movie. The world is too complex. It's a world that takes its power in details". So, it certainly sounds like he knows exactly what needs to be done to give the story maximum impact.

Dune tells the story of Chalamet's Paul, whose family have inherited ownership of the planet Arrakis, a desert planet that is home to the world's most valuable resource, a superhuman drug called "spice." As the owners of Arrakis, the Atreides become the enemy of rival royal families and the planet's indigenous population, a group of natives known as the Freman.

Director Denis Villeneuve has amassed a cast so full of talent for Dune that you are likely to weep. Starring alongside Chalamet is Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem. Simply put, wow.

Dune is scheduled to be released in IMAX and 3D on December 18, 2020, by Warner Bros. Pictures. This comes to us courtesy of Vanity Fair.