Long live the writers! And I’m not saying that just because I write for a living. It’s because Denis Villeneuve revealed he is writing the script for a potential Dune: Part Three. At 2024’s Toronto International Film Festival, the director spoke to Variety who asked about the state of the script. Villeneuve replied “It’s in the works. It’s why I’m not staying here [at the festival] that long.
Villeneuve further clarified that if he makes the second Dune book into a third movie, it won’t be a “trilogy” in the traditional sense. “First, It’s important that people understand that for me, it was really a diptych,” he said. “It was really a pair of movies that will be the adaptation of the first book. That’s done and that’s finished. If I do a third one, which is in the writing process, it’s not like a trilogy. It’s strange to say that, but if I go back there, it’s to do something that feels different and has its own identity.”
Back in April, Villeneuve spoke to The New York Times about Dune: Part Two and all things Muad’Dib-related. Fans of the box office smash will definitely want to hear his thoughts on Paul’s possible Messiah-complex, Lady Jessica’s face tattoos, Chani’s expanded role, and the rules of Fremen intimacy. But the most exciting part of the interview came when he casually mentioned the future. He’s working on the script for a possible third entry in the franchise.
While speaking about how Paul and Chani’s connected stories ended in Part Two, the director said, “[Paul] will try to find a way to save his soul in the third part.” Then, while discussing Chani’s feelings towards Paul at the end, Villeneuve said, “That anger is tremendous. I don’t want to reveal what I’m going to do with the third movie. I know exactly what to do. I’m writing it right now. But there’s a lot of firepower there and I’m very excited about that decision.”
These quotes come just a couple of weeks after Variety reported Legendary Pictures is already developing Dune: Part Three with the director. And it comes as Part Two is returning to IMAX theaters this month. That’s when it’s expected to cross the $700 million box office mark. Those are all great signs for fans hoping to see Villeneuve adapt Dune: Messiah, which he has said he wants to do. But there’s still a long way to travel from “writing” to “Arrakis.”
In the recent interview, he did keep to his promise that Dune: Messiah would be his final outing. “Listen, if Dune: Messiah happens, it will have been many years for me on Arrakis, and I would love to do something else,” Villeneuve said. “I think that it would be a good idea for me to make sure that, in Messiah, there are the seeds in the project if someone wants to do something else afterwards, because they are beautiful books. They are more difficult to adapt. They become more and more esoteric. It’s a bit more tricky to adapt, but I’m not closing the door. I will not do it myself, but it could happen with someone else.”
If he’s already working on the script—in any capacity—viewers can probably at least start at least thinking about what color stillsuit they’ll want to wear to the premiere.
Originally published April 22, 2024.
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