RUMOR: Warner Bros. Planning More DUNE Movies... With Or Without Denis Villeneuve

We know Dune: Messiah is on the way, but a new rumor is claiming that Warner Bros. intends to move forward with at least one more movie, with or without director Denis Villeneuve...

News

By MarkCassidy - Jan 01, 2025 08:01 PM EST

Filed Under: Dune

Source: Via SFF Gazette

Dune and Dune: Part Two director Denis Villeneuve has stated that he has no intention of helming any more movies in the franchise after his planned Dune: Messiah adaptation, but that doesn't mean Warner Bros. will stop making them!

According to scooper Daniel Richtman (and backed up by a report from World of Reel), the studio is planning to move forward with at least one more Dune movie and a second TV series.

HBO's Dune: Prophecy was not as acclaimed as the films, but it reportedly did pretty well from a viewership standpoint.

The first two movies were big successes, but a fourth chapter would still be somewhat surprising given the direction Frank Herbert's saga goes in after the second book. Villeneuve has shown little interest in adapting the later novels, Children of Dune and God Emperor of Dune, as he feels the story starts to become too "esoteric."

According to World of Reel's source, the filmmaker "was rather irked by these potential plans to expand the franchise, with or without him."

How would you feel about the Dune franchise continuing after Messiah with another director at the helm? Let us know in the comments section down below, and check out an impressive fan-made poster for Messiah from diamonddead-Art.

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.

DUNE: MESSIAH - Anya Taylor-Joy Shares Excitement To Return As Alia Atreides

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DUNE: PROPHECY Episode 3 Promo Teases The Aftermath Of Last Week's Intense Final Scene - SPOILERS

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69 Comments

1 2

McMurdo - 1/1/2025, 8:45 PM

Prophecy has more characterization in one episode than Dune 2 has in 3 hours of runtime. And better female characters across the board. Lady Jessica became one dimensional in part 2 as did Paul, Stilgar became comic relief (moronic decision) chani was chani aka zendaya heavily overacting. Harkonnen became Canon fodder.

I thought part 1 was much better as it had Duke Lehto and the political machinations of having to run a planet whilst knowing it's your undoing. And Paul wasn't static like he is in part 2. First time he's in fremen land in part 2 he tells Jessica he needs to win over the unbelievers....and he does just that.

I'm fully on board with other creators getting a Crack at this universe.

Forthas - 1/1/2025, 9:29 PM

@McMurdo - I think the problem with Dune Prophesy is how they presented it. The story was compelling but going back and forth into their present and past was a bit jarring and ruined the flow of the story. Otherwise, it was a solid show and I am thrilled they are continuing with a season 2 and hopefully more well thought out films. While I have no faith in Warner Brothers, I have FULL faith in Legendary who I believe have the rights to the Dune franchise.

Kadara - 1/1/2025, 11:28 PM

@Forthas - Oh there you are lol, I was trying to look for you on my friend's list. Thank you so much for explaining the Dune universe to a newbie like me and being respectful. I wish you an amazing new year to you and yours ❤️

Forthas - 1/1/2025, 11:56 PM

@Kadara - Thank you my friend! I hope you have the most amazing year! All my best!

McMurdo - 1/2/2025, 12:15 AM

@Forthas - I thought it was a pretty good first season with compelling mysteries and set up for future seasons. Completely agree with you brother.

bkmeijer1 - 1/2/2025, 2:17 AM

@McMurdo - I didn't really saw Stilgar as comic relief at all. Only when people started to meme about it online I realised it. Still, I saw it as what happens when religious fanaticism takes over

Nolanite - 1/2/2025, 9:45 AM

@Kadara - just get on your knees and blow him off already.

Kadara - 1/2/2025, 11:09 AM

@Nolanite - You didn't say Nolanite out so no.

THEKENDOMAN - 1/1/2025, 9:02 PM

Here we go.., Let’s squeeze the juice till it’s dead and buried.

I mean these guys in Hollywood are truly oblivious to what the art of movie making is anymore.

It’s just money , money , money.

Without Denis?? I mean 3 is enough. Oh yeah, they have a to series.

Funniest thing is I haven’t seen any, but I know when enough is enough.

Let it go.

Lord of the rings, ring power, lord of the something? They couldn’t leave it alone.

For [frick]s sake

dragon316 - 1/1/2025, 11:13 PM

@THEKENDOMAN - there are nearly thirty books in dune series could be what there going for with what they did lord of rings and Harry Potter

THEKENDOMAN - 1/2/2025, 2:13 AM

@dragon316 - I don’t know . We need knew stories. Dune isn’t that great and I haven’t even watched it.

HumanNature - 1/2/2025, 5:40 AM

@dragon316 - lol 24 of those books are fan fiction slop. And of the original 6 that Frank Herbert wrote, books 4-6 are borderline unadaptable. Warner Bros cant be trusted with this franchise. Legendary needs to axe their deal with WB after Villenueve leaves and just let Villenueve's trilogy speak for itself for a decade

Apophis71 - 1/2/2025, 9:29 AM

@HumanNature - 4 thru 6 would be tougher to adapt directly but I am up for a good attempt at doing Children of Dune etc as I tend to feel they could actualy improve on the source IF well crafted. I mean for the longest time everyone thought the original Dune was completely unadaptable too and Villenueve, for me, proved that to be wrong so willing to hope the same can be done for more than just Paul's arc.

At least they don't have the GoT issue where the latter books are not completed yet so there is that going for it :D

I am unsure of them doing FILMS of any of the non Frank Herbert books but cool if they go over some of them in series form.

ModHaterSLADE - 1/1/2025, 9:05 PM

Overall I enjoyed Prophecy, it wasn't mind blowing but it was nice to have another Dune project before Messiah.

Sicario - 1/1/2025, 9:20 PM

I'll never understand the hype for villeneuve. All his movies are blandly directed. And literally has nothing unique about them. He is really a glorified zack snyder. But he knows pick out good scripts. That's it.

McMurdo - 1/1/2025, 10:20 PM

@Sicario - he's no Nolan. He's solid but his beat films are still Arrivals and Prisoners

Shivermetimbers - 1/2/2025, 12:16 AM

@Sicario - I think a big part of it is the fact that he hasnt had a truly bad one in his current run and fans of established universes he’s dipped into have been mostly happy. BR2049 is one of my absolute favorite films, so he’s doing something right.

NinnesMBC - 1/2/2025, 12:36 AM

@Sicario - Even Arrival? Prisoners? Maybe his style is just not for you.

bobevanz - 1/2/2025, 9:25 AM

@Sicario - what a braindead take

Forthas - 1/1/2025, 9:23 PM

If this is true, this could go very well or be a disaster!!!! It all depends on who the director that takes over after Villeneuve. I will throw out there Steve McQueen OR Gareth Edwards if they pair him with Jon Spaihts as writer. Also they need to skip well into the future and begin a new set of original stories.

TheJok3r - 1/1/2025, 10:48 PM

@Forthas - I can definitely see WB convincing Villeneuve to stick around for one more movie, although it'll likely take longer to make due to him needing a break from the franchise.

Forthas - 1/1/2025, 11:53 PM

@TheJok3r - If he did, I would still want him to do an original story and set up a future for the franchise that people can follow. He did something like that for Blade Runner and many felt he made a new original film that was better than the first Blade Runner.

RolandD - 1/1/2025, 9:28 PM

Not really invested in this because I have never read the books or watched the movies but there are still novels left and he’s upset that they want to make more movies even though he doesn’t want to. Get over yourself. I do see the LOTR as a cash grab. I am invested in LOTR having read the books and seen
the movies. Here’s the other difference.,There are no more novels to adapt (at least with these characters) and they already turned a thin Hobbit novel into three movies when there was only enough original material for a short movie.

Forthas - 1/1/2025, 9:32 PM

@RolandD - They should absolutely not adapt the remaining books. They need to work on a mythology beyond the books

RolandD - 1/1/2025, 10:12 PM

@Forthas - On the face of it, that makes no sense, but I’ve also read that the subsequent books for lack of a better term didn’t flow well. Why does it make more sense to make movies about the mythology of Dune rather than adapting novels that the creator of Dune himself wrote. You clearly know way more about Dune than I do so I am truly asking for an explanation not saying this in a challenging way.

Forthas - 1/1/2025, 10:22 PM

@RolandD - The remaining Frank Herbert Book are really trippy. Even Denis Villenueve mentioned that it would be difficult for someone to adapt them. Hell...even Messiah is a bit strange in my opinion but not so much that it could not be adapted. The Brian Herbert books are prequels which I think are best handled using the streaming format. The only thing that is left is new stories which could move away from the more difficult and weird concepts in the Frank Herbert novels. It should not be something that is controversial. The Wizard of Oz was first a book and then now you had a massively successful musical and now film that has added to the mythology beyond the original book.

RolandD - 1/1/2025, 10:49 PM

@Forthas - Thanks for your insights. I appreciated it.

Apophis71 - 1/2/2025, 9:45 AM

@Forthas - I tend to feel there is a potential happy middle ground where the adaptions become LESS direct adaptions of the source over time whilst still being true enough for fans of them to the key aspects of Children, God Emperor, Heretics and Chapterhouse in order to get around how increasingly trippy they became and there are some significant time gaps if memory serves in the books which could thus give room for fully original stories that fit into the general lore of the first 6.

I mean they have already departed a bit from the books with what they have done with Chani, which I'm cool with as prefer the idea she is more of sceptic and pissed he is getting married to someone other than her as willing concubine never sat well with me and gives wiggle room to improve on the narrative for the children such that it lands better for the GA.

All the prequel books are likely best kept with the streaming format however as you suggest.

Forthas - 1/2/2025, 10:35 AM

@Apophis71 - You make a great point. The more I think about it what you suggest makes a lot of sense. The one issue is that whatever stories they come up with would be somewhat constrained by the stories in the books. But yeah otherwise that is a way to approach it.

Apophis71 - 1/2/2025, 10:56 AM

@Forthas - True, and depends HOW close to the source they stick to it, I was never the best writer being dyslexic but the way I would go about it is build a timeline of what parts are considered essential to all the original authors books, which bits need to diverge (as TOO trippy) and rebuild a narrative that work better (for films) to get to the same key points. Once you have that basic framework you can then go back to the book and lift directly as much as you can that works well, see what no longer directly works and see how you can keep true enough to that intent and core aspects of he original characters that it will feel similar enough...

...that could give enough to spark stories that HELP build into gaps which could make for great original stories (if you have already planned out where your heading and what is changing thus don't end up feeling like pointless filler) either for additional films or a spinoff bridging series on a streaming platform.

Course it all could go horribly wrong but I could see a path in good hands to go down.

WakandaTech - 1/1/2025, 9:30 PM

A Trilogy dealing with

The butlerian jihad would be epic

Forthas - 1/1/2025, 9:53 PM

That Fan made poster looks excellent. A bit spoilery and the character portrayed by Souheila Yacoub whose name appears on the poster is deceased in the context of the film. Although I guess she could come back as a dream or Ghola!

dracula - 1/1/2025, 9:55 PM

Hope Denis at least does Children Of Dune

Finish Paul’s part in the story and kick off the next part

Then let someone else take the reigns

Matt Reeves

Jeff Nichols

Joseph Kosinski

Probably wont happen but Nolan

KennKathleen - 1/1/2025, 10:02 PM

I don't remember this comic book....

But THIS!!!

?si=mQhu2k06TT7xLedZ

🎯

dracula - 1/1/2025, 11:04 PM

@KennKathleen - pretty sure there is a comic adaption of the David Lynch Dune

KennKathleen - 1/1/2025, 11:24 PM

@dracula -

DREAMER - 1/1/2025, 10:04 PM

Typical WB Executives and Producers sabotaging their own movies, even before pre-production

Rj1 - 1/1/2025, 10:12 PM

Does WB really think we’re here because sand worms are really that interesting? No!!! People are showing up because Villeneuve is a freaking rockstar. Nobody’s gonna show up for “random movie director presents Dune:Origins”

dracula - 1/1/2025, 11:44 PM

@Rj1 - not sure thats completely true

Dune was basically Game Of Thrones before Game Of Thrones

DocSpock - 1/1/2025, 10:14 PM

Just like every hit franchise, they will beat it into the ground until they ruin it.

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RUMOR: Warner Bros. Planning More DUNE Movies... With Or Without Denis Villeneuve

We know Dune: Messiah is on the way, but a new rumor is claiming that Warner Bros. intends to move forward with at least one more movie, with or without director Denis Villeneuve...

DUNE: MESSIAH - Anya Taylor-Joy Shares Excitement To Return As Alia Atreides

DUNE: PROPHECY Episode 3 Promo Teases The Aftermath Of Last Week's Intense Final Scene - SPOILERS

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.