The Big Picture

Denis Villeneuve plans to turn Frank Herbert’s Dune into a trilogy of movies, with Dune: Part Two coming out in 2024. Villeneuve wants to adapt Dune: Messiah as the final film in the trilogy and change the perception of the protagonist, Paul Atreides. The director views his adaptation of Dune as a warning rather than a heroic tale.

From the very beginning, Denis Villeneuve had a big plan for Dune. He wanted to turn Frank Herbert’s original book into two epic movies — even if Warner Bros. wouldn’t let him film ‘Part One’ and ‘Part Two’ in immediate succession. Thankfully, after the first Dune movie was a qualified box office success in a post-pandemic world upon its release back in 2021, he got the approval to finish his adaptation with Dune: Part Two, which was initially slated for the end of this year. Everything seems to be going well with the project. Except for the fact that it’s been delayed by half a year.

But here’s the thing: Dune isn’t just one story. Herbert wrote more books that continue the tale of Arrakis, the desert planet. And after he passed away, his son Brian Herbert kept writing more books in the series. So, if Dune: Part Two proves a success, Villeneuve fully intends to continue his journey among the stars by making more movies about this fascinating desert world and its mysterious sandworms.

Speaking with Empire, Villeneuve admitted it would be his greatest dream if he was able to adapt Dune: Messiah and complete what he would view as his Dune trilogy. Villeneuve explained that Messiah, the direct follow-up to Frank Herbert’s Dune novel, depicted Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides as a heroic figure, which was never the author’s intention. Villeneuve plans to change that message, as he explains.

“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 wanted to do. My adaptation [of Dune] is closer to his idea that it’s actually a warning. After that the books become more… esoteric. [As for Part Three] I will say, there are words on paper.”

‘Dune: Part 2’ Will Come to Theaters in 2024
Dune: Part Two stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, Javier Bardem, and Charlotte Rampling. New faces include Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan Corrino, Austin Butler as the ruthless Feyd-Rautha Harkkonen, Lea Seydoux as the Bene Gesserit sister Lady Fenring, and Christopher Walken plays Emperor Shaddam IV, while the up-and-coming actor Souheila Yacoub appears as Shishakli, and Tim Blake Nelson has been cast in an undisclosed role.

Dune: Part Two will eventually arrive in theaters on March 15, 2024. Check out the trailer for the film below.