'Every morning I had these chills': Denis Villeneuve on filming in Abu Dhabi

Dubai: Denis Villeneuve took over cinema screens worldwide today for a global fan event tied to the first trailer for Dune: Part Three, appearing live via satellite in front of audiences linked in Chicago, Dallas, Montreal, Toronto, London, Berlin and Abu Dhabi.

Then came the surprise: Timothée Chalamet walked out to join him. In the Abu Dhabi cinema, everyone lost it, the air in the room turning electric in an instant.

When a question chosen from a fan from the UAE capital was picked soon after, the conversation turned to the desert that has shaped all three films: Abu Dhabi's Liwa Desert, once again standing in for the planet Arrakis.

Asked what memory from filming in Abu Dhabi will stay with him forever, Villeneuve did not hesitate. "I will say the mornings," he said. "The mornings in the desert, to feel the energy as the sun comes up, and the crew, to feel the excitement and the wonder in the crew members' eyes. You feel the power of the desert and how inspiring it is. It's a crazy journey to bring a massive film crew into the deep desert, but the reward was seeing those smiles every morning. Every morning, I had these chills."

Chalamet, who has now filmed in the Liwa Desert across all three instalments, agreed there was something about those early hours that never quite wore off. "If you ever have the chance to go there, it is extraordinary, how still the mornings were," he said.

"You can't overestimate it, Denis has far more experience than I do, but when you're shooting in the desert and Denis is helming it, you almost feel like you're on a safari. It is a gorgeous walk just to get to the location to work. It was a really special experience."

This year's shoot marked the third time the production has set up camp in the Liwa Desert, following Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024). Abu Dhabi has hosted around 20 separate desert locations across the three films, and the Abu Dhabi Film Commission has said more than 600 UAE-based crew, cast and support staff were involved in this latest 31-day shoot alone.

Sameer Al Jaberi, head of the Abu Dhabi Film Commission, called the Dune: Part Three shoot "a poignant and pivotal moment for the entire creative ecosystem of Abu Dhabi," adding that returning to the Liwa Desert for a third time was never in doubt. The emirate has become one of the region's go-to filming destinations more broadly off the back of that reputation, drawing more than 150 major international productions in recent years through a mix of location variety, experienced local crews and a rebate of up to 35 per cent on production costs.

It is not the first time Abu Dhabi fans have had a moment like this with the franchise, either. The region's premiere of Dune: Part Two was held at the very same VOX Cinemas, Al Maryah Island, back in February 2024, when Villeneuve and co-stars Josh Brolin and Dave Bautista walked the red carpet there in person.

The trailer that prompted today's event also gave fans their clearest look yet at what to expect. Robert Pattinson joins the cast as a shape-shifting villain, while Anya Taylor-Joy's role has largely been kept under wraps. The story picks up nearly two decades after Paul Atreides, played by Chalamet, seized control of the Imperium, following him as a now-ruthless emperor confronting the consequences of his rule, as old allies return and new threats close in.

It is based on Frank Herbert's Dune Messiah, the second book in the saga, and marks the final chapter in Villeneuve's trilogy. Dune: Part Three opens in cinemas internationally on December.