Dune: Part Two director Denis Villeneuve recently confirmed that he is working on a third and final part of his sci-fi saga, which will be based on the Frank Herbert's second novel, Dune: Messiah.
While speaking to South Korean press earlier this month, the filmmaker said that the third film "is being written right now. The screenplay is almost finished, but it is not finished. It will take a little time. There’s a dream of making a third movie... it would make absolute sense to me.”
Even if a third film is given the greenlight, it sounds like it's going to be a while before Villeneuve gets to work on it.
“I don’t know exactly when I will go back to Arrakis,” he added. “I might make a detour before just to go away from the sun. For my mental sanity I might do something in between, but my dream would be to go a last time on this planet that I love.”
Assume that Messiah will see the light of day (we really can't see Part Two flopping), and you haven't read the books, beware of spoilers from this point on.
Jason Momoa's Duncan Idaho was killed off towards the end of the first movie, but while speaking to MTV's Josh Horowitz, Paul Atreides actor Timothée Chalamet let slip (well, the books have been out there for the past 70 years!) that the Aquaman star will return if Dune: Messiah happens.
How does Duncan return after such a definitive death? Well, in the Dune universe, an artificial copy (not exactly a clone) of a deceased person known as a Ghola can be created by a genetically altered race known as the Bene Tleilax. Paul is presented with a Ghola of his old friend, and since he has the original's memories, Momoa will essentially get to reprise his role.
Things don't exactly work out for the Idaho Ghola - at least not this first version!
The saga continues as award-winning filmmaker Denis Villeneuve embarks on Dune: Part Two, the next chapter of Frank Herbert’s celebrated novel Dune, with an expanded all-star international ensemble cast. The film, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, is the highly anticipated follow-up to 2021’s six-time Academy Award-winning Dune.
The big-screen epic continues the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s acclaimed bestseller Dune with returning and new stars, including Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet (Wonka, Call Me by Your Name), Zendaya (Spider-Man: No Way Home, Malcolm & Marie, Euphoria), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning), Oscar nominee Josh Brolin (Avengers: Endgame, Milk), Oscar nominee Austin Butler (Elvis, Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood), Oscar nominee Florence Pugh (Black Widow, Little Women), Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: Love and Thunder), Oscar winner Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter,), Stephen McKinley Henderson (Fences), Léa Seydoux (James Bond, Crimes of the Future), with Stellan Skarsgård (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling (45 Years, Assassin’s Creed), and Oscar winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, Being the Ricardos).
Dune: Part Two will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.