The sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s Dune has been pushed to 2024, but that hasn’t deterred him from making plans to explore Arrakis further. In an interview with Empire, Villeneuve teased the potential for a sequel following Dune: Part Two.
“If I succeed in making a trilogy, that would be the dream…I will say, there are words on paper.”
Of course, a lot will depend on the success of the upcoming movie. Dune opened in 2021 and made just over $400M worldwide. The list of accolades was extensive, with ten Academy Award nominations and six victories.
A third Dune would be based on author Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah, a direct sequel to his Dune novel in 1965.
“’Dune Messiah’ was written in reaction to the fact that people perceived Paul Atreides as a hero,” Villeneuve said. “Which is not what he wanted to do. My adaptation [of ‘Dune’] is closer to his idea that it’s actually a warning.”
Villeneuve added that if Dune Messiah does get made, it will be his last of the adaptations because Herbert’s sequels after that become “more esoteric.”
Timothée Chalamet returns as Paul Atreides in Dune: Part Two, joining Zendaya as Chani of the Fremen, who band together to get revenge on House Arrakis, destroyers of Paul’s family. Others in the cast include Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Stellan Skarsgard, and Lea Seydoux.
Dune: Part Two opens March 15th 2024.
