“Dune 3 is officially in the works: Villeneuve confirms adaptation of Dune Messiah
The cinematic world of Dune continues to expand as Legendary Pictures has officially announced the development of the third installment of the film, based on Frank Herbert’s second novel, Dune Messiah. After the first two installments, directed by Denis Villeneuve, were critically acclaimed and commercially successful, including the second installment, which became the highest-grossing film of 2023 with $630.2 million worldwide, it was only a matter of time before the third installment was produced.
This new project, according to Deadline, will be a continuation of Villeneuve’s space saga, adding another significant work to the director’s portfolio, Nuclear War: The Script, which will follow Dune Messiah. According to Villeneuve, work on the script for the third installment has already begun, paving the way for the realization of his ambitious goal of adapting Herbert’s second novel.
The director has long expressed his desire to make a three-part series of Dune, making preliminary sketches for the third part while working on the first. Despite the fact that the first film faced box office difficulties due to the pandemic and its simultaneous streaming release, Dune 2 met all expectations, receiving high marks from both critics and audiences.
Although the official release date for Dune: Part Three hasn’t been announced yet, Villeneuve’s statements about his future plans, including the Nuclear War project, hint that the film may not be released until 2027. Fans of the famous sci-fi saga will have to be patient while waiting for the continuation of the epic story on the big screens.
