Denis Villeneuve has officially confirmed that the third Dune film will be the franchise’s last. While Dune 3 will complete a trifecta of films in that universe, Villeneuve has also clarified that it is not a trilogy.
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair Villeneuve said, “It’s important that people understand that for me, it was really a diptych. It was really a pair of movies that will be the adaptation of the first book. That’s done and that’s finished.” He added, “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.”
The third film, expected to be titled Dune: Messiah, is slated to set 12 years after the events of the first Dune novel, meaning that the cast will have to be aged up. On that particular task, director Villeneuve said, “That’s my problem. I know how to do that.” Villeneuve alludes that he wants to depart the Dune franchise but it does not mean that he wants it to end. He is open to someone taking over the franchise and continue the story, “Listen if Dune: Messiah happens, it will have been many years for me on Arrakis, and I would love to do something else. I think that it would be a good idea for me to make sure that, in Messiah, there are the seeds in the project if someone wants to do something else afterwards, because they are beautiful books. They are more difficult to adapt. They become more and more esoteric. It’s a bit more tricky to adapt, but I’m not closing the door. I will not do it myself, but it could happen with someone else.”
