Denis Villeneuve on his “dream” to complete ‘Dune’ trilogy
Dune director Denis Villeneuve has revealed that his “dream” is turning his movie adaptations of Frank Herbert’s novels into a trilogy, inferring that “there are words on paper” for a third film.
Notably, last week, it was announced that the second instalment in the Canadian director’s series, Dune: Part Two, has been delayed to 2024, making it one of the many significant releases of the year forced to change its release date due to the ongoing Hollywood strike of SAG-AFTRA and WGA.
In a new interview with Empire, Villeneuve discussed his “dream” to make Dune a trilogy. He said: “If I succeed in making a trilogy, that would be a dream”. As it stands, Villeneuve’s two Dune movies tell the story of Frank Herbert’s first 1965 novel.
Although the director is still to confirm whether there will be a third movie, he did imply that he’s working on a script for one: “I will say, there are words on paper.”
A potential third Dune film by Villeneuve would see him adapt Herbert’s sequel, 1969’s Dune Messiah, as it has a very specific message. “Dune Messiah was written in reaction to the fact that people perceived Paul Atreides as a hero,” Villeneuve explained, “Which is not what he wanted to do. My adaptation [of Dune] is closer to his idea that it’s actually a warning.”
The director caveated his point by saying that if he did make a third film, it would be his last time exploring Herbert’s fictional world: “After that the books become more… esoteric.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Denis Villeneuve said that his second Dune film builds on the promise of the first. “Part One was like the promise of something,” he clarified, “But Part Two delivers on that. I’m exhausted, but a happy director.”
Discussing the differences between the two films, he added: “The first movie was more contemplative – a young man discovering a world. Here, it’s a war movie.”
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