The countdown until the release of Dune: Part Two ticks on, but director Denis Villeneuve assured fans it'll be worth the wait at a recent press conference in South Korea. Still a couple months out from the sequel's debut, Villeneuve revealed he's almost finished writing the script for a third movie.
"[Dune Messiah] is being written right now," Villeneuve affirmed. "The screenplay is almost finished, but it's not finished. It will take a little time."
Being cautious not to dole out too many details, Villeneuve said the third installment will follow Paul Atreides as he navigates "the end of [his] journey." The film is based off the Frank Herbert of the same name, which was written as a follow-up to 1965's Dune.
The three-time Oscar nominee first expressed interest in expanding the two-part film series into a trilogy during an August 2023 interview with Empire magazine: “If I succeed in making a trilogy, that would be the dream. I will say, there are words on paper [for a third film].”
As for when the next Dune movie will see the light of day, that remains to be seen. Transitioning from the first Dune movie to the second, Villeneuve said "there was no gap in between" the beginning and end of each project. This time around, the Blade Runner 2049 director wants to milk his days off before returning to Arrakis.
“I don’t know exactly when I will go back to Arrakis,” Villeneuve admitted to the South Korean press. “I might make a detour before just to go away from the sun. For my mental sanity I might do something in between, but my dream would be to go a last time on this planet that I love.”
In the meantime, it seems like fans will have to wait a bit longer to get more details on the future of the Dune franchise. The good news? Part Two hits theaters in March 2024, and Villeneuve seems fairly self-assured that it's a significant step-up from its predecessor.
“For me, this film is much better than Part One,” Villeneuve said. “There’s something more alive in it. There’s a relationship to the characters. I was trying to reach for an intensity and a quality of emotions that I didn’t reach with Part One and that I did reach with Part Two. I’m not saying the film is perfect, but I’m much more happy with Part Two than I was with Part One. I can not wait to share it with the fans and the moviegoers.”
Dune: Part Two will see Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya return to the screen as Paul Atreides and Chani. Together, the two set out to lead the Fremen in a battle of revenge against House Harkonnen. Rounding out the star-studded cast are Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgård and Javier Bardem.
Determining the release date for the anticipated sequel has been a long and complicated process: originally supposed to premiere Nov. 17, Warner Bros. ended up revising that date to Nov. 3 in August 2022. Then, the film's debut was postponed to March 15, 2024 due to the Hollywood SAG-AFTRA and WGA Strikes. Most recently, an announcement from Warner Bros. and Legendary confirmed that Dune: Part Two will hit theaters two weeks earlier than planned on March 1, 2024.
To learn more about Dune: Part Two, watch the official trailer here or check out a series of all-new Dune: Part 2 character posters that offer fans a glimpse at the new and returning faces of the upcoming sequel.
Blogroll image credit: Greg Doherty/WireImage/Getty Images
Katie Reul is a freelance writer at IGN.
