Villeneuve Says Dune: Part Three Is a Very Different Movie, Set 17 Years After Part Two
- Denis Villeneuve tells Empire that Dune: Part Three keeps the same DNA as the earlier films but has a different pacing and is a very different movie.
- The film is set 17 years after Part Two, and Paul Atreides has spent that time ruling as Emperor and reshaping the galaxy.
- Villeneuve adapts Frank Herbert's sequel novel Dune: Messiah and says he returns to Arrakis not out of nostalgia but because he is tired of it and wants to be severe with the material.
- Timothée Chalamet calls the film its own beast with its own siege and paranoid isolation, and says Paul's arc continues his descent into darkness.
- Dune: Part Three opens in cinemas on December 18, and Empire's December 2026 issue carries the full cover story with the cast.