Denis Villeneuve says he’s been hiding in the woods working on the “Dune: Messiah” script, but, according to him, don’t call it the trilogy capper.
In a new episode of the Little Gold Men podcast, Villeneuve admits he’s had no breaks in between making both ‘Dune’ films, which he calls “the biggest technical challenge of my life,” and that he’s not rushing to make ‘Messiah.
“The thing is, first, it’s really important that people understand for me, it was really a diptych, it was two movies, a pair of movies that will be the adaptation of the first book,” he explained. “So that’s done, that’s finished. So, if I do a third one, which is in the writing process, I will say that, for me, it’s a different object. It’s not like a trilogy almost, it’s strange to say, but I really want to—if I go back there—to do something that feels different and has its own identity.”
“Let’s say for me, ’Dune,’ in a way, is finished,” he continued. “And ‘Dune: Messiah’ will be something new that I will approach with its own different cinematic philosophy.”
These first two ‘Dune’ films were technically a “hero’s journey,” but one who has read the books can also see them as a villain’s origin story. This isn’t ‘Star Wars.’ In ‘Messiah,’ set 12 years later, Herbert tears down everything he built in the first novel, and where Chalamet’s Paul Atreides finally ends up is really dark. It will be very hard to translate it into a tentpole blockbuster.
As you can tell, “Dune: Messiah” will present an immense challenge for Villeneuve — does he piss off the book’s fans or the token moviegoer? It could wind up that he angers both of these camps.
In the meantime, Warner Bros has dated a new film from Villeneuve for December 18, 2026. Is it ‘Messiah’? That’s what the rumors claim.