Now that the beautiful masterpiece that is Dune: Part Two has been released, fans are wondering about a third film, which would follow the events of Frank Herbert‘s 1969 novel, Dune Messiah. So far, director Denis Villeneuve has given sparing details on Dune 3 — see if the movie has been confirmed here.
Keep reading for details on Dune 3.
Has ‘Dune 3’ Been Confirmed?
In April 2024, it was confirmed that Dune 3 is officially in development at Legendary Pictures — although, Warner Bros Studios has yet to officially greenlit the third movie.
Ahead of Dune 2‘s premiere, Denis revealed he’d been working on the early stages of writing the script.
“I do not like to comment on Dune Messiah because I’m writing it, and when I’m writing, I love to shut up because it’s a very delicate time where things are fragile, ideas evolve,” he told Den of Geek in March 2024. “I like to talk about movies when they are alive, finished, and strong enough to walk by themselves. Dune Messiah is barely an embryo.”
However, he did reveal that everyone at Warner Bros “was on board with my vision.”
“If you’re a Dune expert, you probably know that Frank Herbert was destabilized by the way the audience perceived Paul when they read Dune, and he was disappointed that people thought he was a heroic figure,” the director said of the author. “He wanted to create the opposite, so he wrote Dune Messiah in order to correct this perception of Paul, to make sure that people will understand that Frank Herbert’s will was to make Dune a warning against charismatic figures, religious figures, and the savior coming out of a colonizer.”
Denis’ adaptation keeps the author’s original image for his character in mind, as the main character behind the sci-fi franchise “is not a hero.”
“Paul Atreides is a tragic figure that becomes negative at the end,” he added. “It’s something that was at the epicenter of my preoccupation when I wrote this adaptation.”
What Will ‘Dune 3’ Be About?
Dune 3 is set to follow the events of Dune Messiah, which will see Timothée Chalamet return as Paul Atreides, the ducal heir of House Atreides.
The third film will play a larger part for Alia, Paul’s sister and Lady Jessica’s second child. Anya Taylor-Joy made her debut in the second movie as Alia, even though it was for a small cameo. That being said, Alia is a major player in Dune Messiah, as she drink from the psychedelic and reality-altering properties of the Water of Life, like her mother, which give her the ability to remember the past lives of countless reverend mothers who lived on Arrakis.
Fans of the movies will most likely see Alia in the third film as someone who is wise beyond her years, much like her brother, Paul. While they both hold this sacred knowledge, their wisdom may come at a price — a loss of childhood innocence and perhaps even their humanity.
“I think you cannot avoid Paul’s terrible purpose, that’s the structure of this whole enterprise,” Denis told Den of Geek of Dune‘s main character.
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