Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two release date is months away, but I’m certainly looking forward to it. I love the first half of Dune and it was truly wonderful to learn, with the title itself, that the plan to complete the story was in place. However, our favorite sci-fi director has made it clear that he sees Dune as three movies, and there’s a new rumor indicating that before it’s all said and done, it will be.
Frank Herbert actually wrote six novels in the Dune franchise, and his son wrote a few more after that, but only the first two deal with the story of Paul Atreides. Dune is the story of how Paul became the literal emperor of the universe and the follow-up Dune: Messiah deals with what Paul does while emperor of the universe. Villeneuve has said he’d like to adapt Messiah as a film following Dune to complete Paul’s story, and TheInSneider claims that WB has already greenlit Dune: Part Three, which I’m assuming would be a Messiah film, and given the movie a 2027 release date.
Certainly, nothing has been officially confirmed but if there has been a third movie greenlit, one assumes the core cast has already been locked down, and in a recent interview with MTV Timothee Chalmet talked about a third movie almost as if it were already set in stone, specifically about how Jason Momoa, who won't be in the Dune 2 cast for reasons obvious to those that saw the first movie, “will” be back as Duncan Idaho “if” the third movie is made.
Until we get some sort of official announcement, which probably won’t come until around the release date of Dune: Part Two at the earliest, this has to be treated as a rumor, but it’s certainly one I’d be excited to see become real. Dune: Part One showed that the book that many saw as filmable, can be done. I’m looking forward to Part Two as much as anything on the 2024 movie release schedule.
The first Dune made $400 million at the global box office, which was a number likely still hampered by the global pandemic. With the knowledge that movies can make $1 billion at the box office again, odds are there will be some serious eyes on the box office for Dune: Part Two when it comes out early next year.
Even if WB has set a third Dune to release in 2027, any date that far out is tentative. If Dune: Part Two fails to deliver at the box office in the way the studio is reportedly expecting, plans will certainly change. And with the rumor yesterday that Warner Bros. Discovery is investigating a possible merger with Paramount, the studio could find itself with money tied up in other things come 2027, which could delay or even prevent the movie from happening.
The biggest hurdle to a Dune: Messiah movie might honestly be Denis Villeneuve himself. While he has said he’s interested in making the movie, he’s also said that the movie might not honestly be necessary. He pointed out that Frank Herbert originally wrote the book as a response to readers' reactions to Dune, many of whom mistakenly saw Paul Atreides as a hero. Messiah makes it clear that Paul’s ascent to power is meant to be dangerous, something which the film director says he has made far less subtle in his adaptation of Dune.
But no studio has ever let a franchise go without a fight. If Dune: Part Two is a success you have to imagine WB will want more of them, and if the director and stars are willing, it seems likely that a third movie truly could happen.
