Denis Villeneuve Says DUNE MESSIAH Will Be His Final DUNE Film If He Gets to Make It
It’s no secret that director Denis Villeneuve has a plan for a Dune trilogy, and during a recent interview with Empire, the filmmaker said that it “would be the dream” if he succeeded in making that trilogy. The first two films are based on Frank Herbert’s Dune novel, the third film would be called Dune Messiah and it would be based on Herbert’s second book, The Messiah of Dune.
The filmmaker went on to talk about his grand plan and his ideas, saying: “If I succeed in making a trilogy, that would be the dream. Dune Messiah was written in reaction to the fact that people perceived Paul Atreides as a hero. Which is not what he [Herbert] wanted to do. My adaptation [of Dune] is closer to his idea that it’s actually a warning.”
Villeneuve also said that he had already started writing the script for Dune Messiah before the Writers Guild of America Strike, teasing, “I will say, there are words on paper.”
Villeneuve Previously discussed his plans for a third movie saying, "There is Dune’s second book, The Messiah of Dune, which could make an extraordinary film. I always saw that there could be a trilogy; after that, we’ll see. It’s years of work; I can’t think of going further than that."
Dune Messiah has not yet been given and official greenlit by Warner Bros. and Legendary, but Villeneuve is hopeful that he will be able to conclude his Dune trilogy.
Dune is a mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, and tells the story of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), “a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.”
This next chapter of the story will explore the “mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.”
The film’s cast includes Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto Atreides, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Zendaya as Chani, Stellan Skarsgard as Baron Harkonnen, Javier Bardem as tribe leader Stilgar, Charlotte Rampling as Reverend Mother Mohiam, David Dastmcalchian as Piter De Vries, Chang Chen as Dr. Yueh, Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Liet-Kynes, and Dave Bautista as the Baron’s nephew Rabban.