Unsurprisingly, Legendary Pictures has given Denis Villeneuve the green light to direct a third Dune film.
It was only a matter of time: in an article published on April 4, Variety reported that Legendary Pictures confirmed the start of work on a third film in the Dune universe. Denis Villeneuve will obviously be there, he who has always proclaimed his wish to direct three feature films. No release year has been communicated.
A priori, Denis Villeneuve will not be the only one to come back. The end of Dune 2 opens with the rise to power of Paul Atréides and there is no doubt that Timothée Chalamet will take up the hero’s costume. The rest of the cast, at least the characters still alive, will follow – unless Denis Villeneuve finds himself obliged to cut certain scenes during editing.
The third film will adapt The Messiah of Dune
This formalization is not surprising in the sense that Dune 2 is as much a critical as a commercial success. At the worldwide box office, it grossed more than $600 million. This is much more than its predecessor (406 million) and, for the moment, Dune 2 records the best performance of 2024 (ahead of Kung Fu Panda 4),
Denis Villeneuve’s third Dune film will be an adaptation of the book The Messiah of Dune (the second volume), with Paul Atreides becoming Emperor Muad’ Dib and launching into a holy war against numerous enemies. It will spread to other planets.
However, we must keep in mind that Denis Villeneuve should take a step back before returning to Arrakis (perhaps by directing another film first). As he confided in the columns of Empire in March 2024: “ I made the first two films back to back, which was completely logical for me (…). But that also means I’ve spent six years non-stop on Arrakis and I think it would be healthy to take a break. » Denis Villeneuve is ambitious: he wants Dune 3 is even better than Dune 2, in order to end his trilogy on an excellent note. We can clearly trust him.
Dune 3
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