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Director Denis Villeneuve is ready to go back to Arrakis. For years now, the driving force behind Dune Part One and Part Two has said he wanted to make a third film, Dune Messiah, but that he needed to take a break first. Well, months after Warner Bros. set a mysterious December 2026 release date for his next film, the director has changed his tune.
“Let’s say that I thought that after Part Two that I will take a break, that I will go back in the woods and stay in the woods for a while to recover. But the woods weren’t really suiting me, and I would go back behind the camera faster than I think. But that’s all I can say,” Villeneuve told Deadline in a new interview.
He’s been working on the script for Dune Messiah, set 12 years after the events for Dune Part Two, for a while now and revealed that’s still where he is in the process. “I’m in the writing zone right now,” he said. However, he also explained that he sees Dune Part One and Part Two as a finished film and that Messiah is different.
“Like Herbert did with Dune Messiah, I think it’ll be a great idea to do something completely different,” Villeneuve said. “The story takes place like 12 years after where we left the characters at the end of Part Two. Their journey, their story is different this time, and that’s why I always say that while it’s the same world it’s a new film with new circumstances.”
And while he was reluctant to say much more, he did confirm he expects the key characters still around to return: Timothée Chalamet as Paul, Zendaya as Chani, Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Paul’s sister, Alia. “They have to return,” Villeneuve said. “They are with the main cast when it happens. And more worms. What can I say?”
Depending on how faithful Villeneuve is to Dune Messiah, audiences can also expect to see the return of characters played by Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, and even Jason Momoa, something Chalamet discussed a few years back.
Villeneuve wouldn’t confirm to Deadline when he’s expected to shoot or release the film, though he seemed to acknowledge something happening in 2026. That, again, is the timeframe Warner Bros. is currently expecting and would require the filmmaker to get rolling sometime in the new year. And while we feel for Villeneuve that he’s not going to get to take a break from Dune, you’ve gotta strike when the spice is hot. We can’t wait.
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