In 2021 and 2024, Denis Villeneuve used two movies to adapt one novel. The famous 1965 book Dune (which began as a 1963 serial in the magazine Analog) has been a white whale for faithful and satisfactory film adaptions since perhaps before Frank Herbert was even done writing the first volume. Most would argue that with Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two, Villeneuve has achieved the impossible: He brought the entire first novel to cinematic life but altered it just enough to make both casual audiences and hardcore fans happy. But can he do it again? Dune 3 — an adaptation of the 1969 novel Dune Messiah — is definitely (maybe) confirmed to start filming in either 2025 or 2026. Recently Villeneuve’s public comments about the project have shifted from a shoulder shrug to a wink. So it seems like this movie will happen, sooner or later.
But here’s the thing. It’s possible that in terms of adaptation techniques, Villeneuve is taking the opposite approach with Dune 3 than he did with the two previous movies. Instead of turning one book into two movies, it seems likely that in this case, Villeneuve will turn two books into one movie. In other words, the only way for Villeneuve’s Dune 3 to make sense is if he’s adapting Dune Messiah and Children of Dune into one film.
