Earlier this year, Dune: Part 2 director Denis Villeneuve confirmed that, if given the opportunity, he would return to helm a third movie based on Frank Herbert's second novel in the sprawling saga, Dune: Messiah.
The Messiah adaptation coming to fruition would likely depend on how successful Part 2 proves to be at the box office (the first film did very well, but nothing is ever guaranteed), but the filmmaker hasn't been sitting around waiting to see how things play out.
While speaking to South Korean press over the weekend, Villeneuve said that Dune Messiah "is being written right now. The screenplay is almost finished, but it is not finished. It will take a little time. There’s a dream of making a third movie... it would make absolute sense to me.”
Even if a third film is given the greenlight, it sounds like it's going to be a while before Villeneuve begins shooting it.
“I don’t know exactly when I will go back to Arrakis,” he added. “I might make a detour before just to go away from the sun. For my mental sanity I might do something in between, but my dream would be to go a last time on this planet that I love.”
As for Part 2, Villeneuve believes it turned out better than the first movie.
"For me, this film is much better than Part One. There’s something more alive in it. There’s a relationship to the characters. I was trying to reach for an intensity and a quality of emotions that I didn’t reach with Part One and that I did reach with Part Two. I’m not saying the film is perfect, but I’m much more happy with Part Two than I was with Part One. I can not wait to share it with the fans and the moviegoers.”
The run-time for the sci-fi sequel has also been revealed, and it'll be longer than the first movie by about 11 minutes.
The saga continues as award-winning filmmaker Denis Villeneuve embarks on Dune: Part Two, the next chapter of Frank Herbert’s celebrated novel Dune, with an expanded all-star international ensemble cast. The film, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, is the highly anticipated follow-up to 2021’s six-time Academy Award-winning Dune.
The big-screen epic continues the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s acclaimed bestseller Dune with returning and new stars, including Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet (Wonka, Call Me by Your Name), Zendaya (Spider-Man: No Way Home, Malcolm & Marie, Euphoria), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning), Oscar nominee Josh Brolin (Avengers: Endgame, Milk), Oscar nominee Austin Butler (Elvis, Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood), Oscar nominee Florence Pugh (Black Widow, Little Women), Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: Love and Thunder), Oscar winner Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter,), Stephen McKinley Henderson (Fences), Léa Seydoux (James Bond, Crimes of the Future), with Stellan Skarsgård (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling (45 Years, Assassin’s Creed), and Oscar winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, Being the Ricardos).
Dune: Part Two will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.