Denis Villeneuve hasn't been coy about wanting to make Dune a movie trilogy. That means an adaptation of Dune Messiah, Frank Herbet's first sequel to the sci-fi classic. But after that, Villeneuve is probably done, according to Variety. There are a lot more Dune novels written by both Frank Herbert and his son, Brian, but, “Dune Messiah should be the last Dune movie for me,” Villeneuve told Time in a recent interview.
It's a bold choice given where Messiah takes the mythology, but it makes a lot of sense from a narrative perspective. If you've never read the later Dune novels, just know they get weird.
Warner Bros. hasn't decided whether or not they'll be moving forward with an adaptation of Messiah yet (that probably depends on how well Dune: Part Two does at the box office), but that hasn't stopped Villeneuve from working on the script, which he confirmed is “being written right now,” though he did say that is wasn't quite finished yet.
“The screenplay is almost finished but it is not finished," Villeneuve said. "It will take a little time.”
If Villeneuve does get to complete his trilogy, several of his stars are on board. In an interview with Total Film magazine, Timothée Chalamet, who plays protagonist Paul Atriedes, said “The idea excites me very much. If the time and opportunity comes to complete the story with Messiah, I think we’re all super enthusiastic about that."
Zendaya, who plays Chiani in the films, also expressed enthusiasm for returning to the role in an adaptation of Messiah in an interview with Fandango. “Would we be down? I mean of course,” she said. “Any time Denis calls it’s a yes from me. I’m excited to see what happens."
If Villeneuve does get to make Messiah, it might not happen immediately. Villeneuve has spent the last six years making Dune and Dune: Part Two back-to-back, and he's previously stated he wants to take a break from the series before filming Dune Messiah.
“I don’t know exactly when I will go back to Arrakis,” Villeneuve said during a press conference in South Korea last year. “I might make a detour before just to go away from the sun. For my mental sanity, I might do something in between.”
Until then, it seems like fans will have to make do with the books. Dune: Part Two finished production in December 20222 and releases in theaters on March 1st.
Will Borger is an IGN freelancer. You can find him on Twitter @bywillborger.
