Dune: Part Two undeniably became one of the biggest movies of 2024, with director Denis Villeneuve’s vision for the science fiction epic wowing audiences throughout the world. Ever since the film’s smash success, there have been rumblings about the franchise potentially continuing into a third film, which would adapt Frank Herbert’s controversial follow-up novel Dune Messiah. During a recent panel at Deadline‘s Contenders London summit, Villeneuve confirmed that the subject of war would be at the center of a potential adaptation of Dune: Messiah, adding that in Dune: Part Two, “in order to save his friends, [Paul Atredies] has to start a war.”
For those who are already familiar with Herbert’s 1969 source material for Messiah, this might not be too much of a surprise. Without getting too heavily into spoilers, the story is set over a decade into the rein of Paul as Emperor, as his efforts have led to a holy war with billions of casualties across the entire universe. Messiah then explores the personal and political strife that occurs from that starting point, both as Paul fights to remedy the war caused in his name, and as those around him work to strip him of his power.
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This comes as Messiah has only been confirmed to be in development by Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Entertainment, although the former studio has slotted a December 18, 2026 release date for whatever Villeneuve’s next film might be.
“Look, I never take it for granted that I’m going to be back,” franchise editor Joe Walker told ComicBook in an exclusive interview earlier this year. “I hope I am. I don’t know, I haven’t read the script and it’s still being worked on, I’m sure. And I love the fact that [director] Denis [Villeneuve] will keep his cards close to his chest until he’s ready, because it spoils something to talk about something before it’s there. I’m very excited about what Paul becomes in that story. And I love the idea of basically trying to assassinate somebody who’s seen everything in advance. I can’t comment too much about it, but I just know it will be just a brilliant thing to go back into that world.”
As the director has previously explained, he is going out of his way to ensure that a theoretical Messiah adaptation honors the complex nature of its source material, while also being somewhat standalone from the events of the first two Dune movies.
“First, It’s important that people understand that for me, it was really a diptych,” Villeneuve previously said in a recent interview with Vanity Fair. “It was really a pair of movies that will be the adaptation of the first book. That’s done and that’s finished. If I do a third one, which is in the writing process, it’s not like a trilogy. It’s strange to say that, but if I go back there, it’s to do something that feels different and has its own identity.”
Dune Messiah does not currently have a confirmed release date.