Filmmaker Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of classic sci-fi novel Dune is one of the most hotly anticipated films of the year. While the global lockdown threw a wrench in the movie's production schedule, lead actor Timothée Chalamet recently confirmed on Twitter in response to a fan query that the trailer for the film will drop before the month ends.

If Chalamet's words are not confirmation enough, his fellow actor in the movie Zendaya also recently revealed that even though she does not have a big part in the movie, she has seen its trailer, and was very impressed by it.

"Dune was incredible. I wasn't in it very much, so when I was watching the trailer, I was like, 'Oh my gosh!. I called Timothée and said, 'Dude! You should be proud."

Based on a best-selling series of novels by Frank Herbert, Dune explores a distant world of the planet Arrakis, also known as Dune, which contains a highly coveted drug that is sought after by rival factions from many planets. At the center of the quest to assume ownership of Dune is the character of Paul Atreides, played by Timothée Chalamet, and his struggles with his destiny as the last great hope for his people's salvation. The actor has previously spoken with Vanity Fair about the difficult, morally complex journey undertaken by Paul that will be explored in Dune.

"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."

The fact that the team behind Dune is ready to drop the trailer this month means they are serious about having the film ready for an end-of-the-year release, even though Villeneuve has described the struggle to create the final cut of the movie as a 'sprint' to keep to the scheduled release date.

"I was planning to go back and shoot some elements later because I wanted to readjust the movie. I needed time. At the time I didn't know that it would be a pandemic... as we were about to go back to do those elements. The impact was that it crushed my schedule right now. It will be a sprint to finish the movie on time right now, because we were allowed to go back to shoot those elements in a few weeks."

Directed by Denis Villeneuve from a script he co-wrote with Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts, Legendary Pictures' Dune features a leading ensemble cast comprising of Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Stellan Skarsgård, Javier Bardem, Charlotte Rampling, Dave Bautista, David Dastmalchian, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Stephen Henderson, and Josh Brolin. Provided there are no further delays, the film arrives in theaters Dec. 18.