Villeneuve Says Dune Messiah Will Be His Last Dune Film, Leaves Door Open for Other Directors
- Denis Villeneuve told Vanity Fair's Little Gold Men podcast that a third Dune film based on Dune Messiah will be his last in the franchise, and that he will not direct further installments himself.
- Villeneuve rejects the trilogy framing: he calls Dune Parts 1 and 2 a diptych adapting the first novel, and says a third film would be "something that feels different and has its own identity."
- Legendary confirmed development on Dune 3 in April after Dune Part 2 grossed $711 million worldwide. The third film is in the writing process.
- Dune Messiah is set 12 years after the first novel, so an adaptation would likely age up the young cast, including Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and Florence Pugh. Villeneuve says he knows how to do it but shared no details.
- Villeneuve wants Messiah to plant seeds for whoever takes over, saying the later Herbert books are beautiful but harder to adapt because they grow more esoteric. His other attached projects include Rendezvous with Rama, a Cleopatra biopic, a nuclear war scenario, and a sci-fi romance with Eric Roth.