Cool Stuff: LEGO Sees Spice In The Air With The Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter Set
When it comes to LEGO and pop culture, of course there are endless sets inspired by "Star Wars," "Harry Potter," and the comics and movies of Marvel. But soon, the building brick company will bring us a dash of desert power with a LEGO set inspired by Denis Villeneuve's acclaimed adaptation of the classic novel "Dune."
Today, LEGO announced that February 2024 will see the release of the LEGO "Dune" Atreides Royal Ornithopter building brick set, and as part of the LEGO Icons line-up, it's clearly not meant for the usual younger builders that the company often caters to with its merchandise. The 1,369-piece set allows "Dune" fans to "recreate the dynamic dragonfly-inspired design of an Ornithopter like never before, with functional blades on the aircraft that can flap and retract with a 180-degree rotation."
As part of the LEGO Icons roster, this "Dune" Atreides Royal Ornithopter set joins other beloved pop culture vehicles like the DeLorean Time Machine from "Back to the Future" and the Ecto-1 from "Ghostbusters" as incredibly detailed and just plain cool LEGO sets for collectors to display on their shelves. And it's not just the Ornithopter that comes in this set either, because there's a great assembly of minifigures included too. Take a look below!
'You can see spice in the air'
Along with the Lego "Dune" Atreides Royal Ornithopter, which measures 9 inches high, 22 inches long, and 31 inches wide, you'll also get eight brand new LEGO minifigures featuring the characters from the film. Among the line-up is one of the best LEGO minifigures that has ever been released. Of course, we have Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin), Chani (Zendaya), Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac), Dr. Liet Kynes (Sharon Duncan-Brewster), Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa), and last but certainly not least, Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), who comes with that extremely long robe of his.
In the official press release, Michael Psiaki, Design Master at the LEGO Group, said:
"Like fans across the world, we were fully enraptured by the epic 'Dune' when it released — so our return to Arakkis in 'Dune: Part Two' was the perfect opportunity to bring this iconic craft to life in LEGO brick form. Builders can now recreate this impressive ship with amazing detail, whether to proudly display or recreate their favourite scenes from the epic 'Dune' saga at home."
With "Dune: Part Two" slated to hit theaters in March 2024, grabbing this set the month before will help pass the time until the sequel arrives on the big screen. We would have been watching it in theaters next month, but thanks so studios refusing to negotiate with writers and actors, the Hollywood strikes lasted too long for "Dune" to be able to meet its original release date. So now we're stuck waiting for a few more moths.
The LEGO "Dune" Atreides Royal Ornithopter is available to pre-order now for $164.99, but it won't be released until February 1, 2024.