It's one of the year's most anticipated film releases, and fans have just been offered another sneak peek at the sci-fi epic Dune.
Even better, the deserts of the UAE get a look-in.
The Denis Villeneuve-directed film, which is due to hit cinemas in December, revealed a new still this week, with the sandy landscape of Abu Dhabi in the background.
The adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel is set on the fictional planet of Arrakis, an inhospitable land that is home to the galaxy's most prized resource, a life-extending drug named "spice". The UAE's dramatic sweeping sands formed the backdrop of the planet, while shooting also took place in Jordan's Wadi Rum.
See more images from the upcoming film in the gallery below:
The film revolves around a young royal who not only has to battle hostile native creatures to mine spice, but also uphold his family's stewardship of the land against other interstellar noble houses.
The protagonist, Paul Atreides, is played by Academy Award nominee Timothee Chalamet, who appears in the new still alongside co-star Josh Brolin.
"It's Paul's first contact with the deep desert, where he's mesmerised by it," the director told Empire while unveiling the image. "He has a strange feeling of being home. There's a lot of action at this specific moment, and [it's] one of the scenes in the movie that I'm starting to get pretty proud of."
Call Me By Your Name actor Chalamet, 24, has previously recounted his experiences filming in the region.
"It was really surreal," he told Variety, of shooting a scene at dawn in the south of Jordan. "There are these Goliath landscapes, which you may imagine existing on planets in our universe, but not on Earth."
Filming in the summer heat in the UAE presented new obstacles for the cast, Chalamet recalled.
“I remember going out of my room at 2am, and it being probably 100 degrees [37.7°C],” says Chalamet. “The shooting temperature was sometimes 120 degrees [48.8°C]."
In Dune, which is set to be released on Friday, December 18, Oscar Isaac and Rebecca Ferguson take on the roles of Atreides's parents, while Stellan Skarsgard portrays the head of House Harkonnen, the longstanding enemy of House Atreides.
Zendaya plays a Fremen woman, one of the native inhabitants of Arrakis, while Jason Momoa and Brolin take on the roles of elite warriors who help train up the young Atreides. Dave Bautista, Charlotte Rampling and Javier Bardem round out the star-studded cast.
The film, helmed by Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 filmmaker Villeneuve, is the second silver-screen adaption of the Hugo Award-winning novel, following David Lynch's much-criticised 1984 take.
The biog
Name: Ayisha Abdulrahman Gareb
Age: 57
From: Kalba
Occupation: Mukrema, though she washes bodies without charge
Favourite things to do: Visiting patients at the hospital and give them the support they need.
Role model: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood.
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
MATCH INFO
Who: France v Italy
When: Friday, 11pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
The years Ramadan fell in May
Terminator: Dark Fate
Director: Tim Miller
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Mackenzie Davis
Rating: 3/5
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Sri Lanka World Cup squad
Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Isuru Udana, Milinda Siriwardana, Avishka Fernando, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Ammar 808:
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Sofyann Ben Youssef
Glitterbeat
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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The Orwell Prize for Political Writing
Twelve books were longlisted for The Orwell Prize for Political Writing. The non-fiction works cover various themes from education, gender bias, and the environment to surveillance and political power. Some of the books that made it to the non-fiction longlist include:
- Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War by Tim Bouverie
- Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me by Kate Clanchy
- Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
- Follow Me, Akhi: The Online World of British Muslims by Hussein Kesvani
- Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS by Azadeh Moaveni
