At the start of Frank Herbert’s first Dune novel, Princess Irulan tells us: “A beginning is a very delicate time.” But what about a middle? As with all things Dune, uncertainty is in the wind when it comes to predicting the future, but it looks like director Denis Villeneuve has accidentally confirmed when a film version of Dune Messiah could start filming. And within that detail, we might have a window for a release date.
According to Baz Bamigboye, writing for Deadline, Villeneuve has exclusively revealed that he will “go back behind the camera faster than I think.” Since the release of Dune: Part Two in March, Villeneuve has frequently mentioned his plan to take a break between trips to Arrakis. Even recently, he wasn’t fully committed to the idea that he would film Dune Messiah as his next project. But now that seems to have changed.
“I thought that after Part Two that I will take a break, that I will go back in the woods and stay in the woods for a while to recover,” he said. “But the woods weren’t really suiting me, and I would go back behind the camera faster than I think. But that’s all I can say.”
So, it would seem the question now isn’t if Villeneuve’s next movie will be Dune Messiah or not, but how soon he’ll start filming it. Thankfully, we may have an answer for that too.
What is the Dune Messiah release date?
According to the Deadline scoop, Villeneuve suggested that Dune Messiah — a sequel to the story told in the first two Dune films — could start shooting in 2026. If that’s the case, then we could be looking at a 2027 release date, which would put four years between Dune: Part Two and Dune Messiah (one year sooner than an earlier prediction).
That said, none of this has been confirmed by Legendary or Warner Bros, and although it was publicly revealed that Villeneuve was working on another film for Legendary, some reports suggested that Villeneuve had something else planned before Dune 3. Now that seems to be reversed, though, no official announcement has been made.
“These movies take a lot of time to be made, so it’s best not to say out loud when I might shoot,” Villeneuve said. “Unfortunately, I’m supposed to shut up.”
Messiah will be the last Villeneuve Dune movie
Since 2021, Villeneuve has made it clear he only ever wanted to adapt the first two Frank Herbert Dune books: Dune and Dune Messiah. With Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two, the first book is (mostly) taken care of, and because Messiah is a much shorter novel than its predecessor, it makes sense that Villeneuve won’t need two films to bring that story to the screen. Fans of the books already know this, but fans of the movies should listen to what Villeneuve is saying about just how different this third film will be:
“Like Herbert did with Dune Messiah, I think it’ll be a great idea to do something completely different. The story takes place like 12 years after where we left the characters at the end of Part Two. Their journey, their story is different this time, and that’s why I always say that while it’s the same world it’s a new film with new circumstances.”
Villeneuve also added that this new movie would “finish the Paul Atreides arc,” which, from a book point-of-view is only half true. While — spoiler alert — Paul apparently perishes at the end of Dune Messiah, walking blinded, into the desert, alone, he does return in the third book, Children of Dune, as a mysterious character called “the Preacher.” In 2003, the John Harrison-penned miniseries Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune used both Dune Messiah and Children of Dune as combined source material. Because the second and third books are so linked, Villeneuve could do the same thing.
But because Dune: Part Two has tonally changed many aspects of Dune — specifically the character of Chani (Zendaya) — it will be interesting to see how Villeneuve adjusts his version of Messiah to accommodate the differences between the way she relates to Paul on the page versus on the screen.
That said, Villeneuve has promised that all major cast members from the previous films will appear in Dune Messiah, saying bluntly, “They have to return.” This almost certainly, includes Jason Momoa, whose Dune hero, Duncan Idaho, is resurrected as a clone of himself. Will we have to wait until 2027 to see this on screen? Even a spice vision couldn’t make this future clear, but now, thanks to Villeneuve’s revelations, it sounds like there is one, narrow way through.
Dune: Part One and Part Two are both streaming on Max. The new prequel series, Dune: Prophecy will be released by HBO on November 17.
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