Denis Villeneuve wants a third ‘Dune’ film
The director is already speculating on the possibility of a third film just days after a 'Dune' sequel was confirmed
Days after it was confirmed that ‘Dune’ would be getting a sequel, director Denis Villeneuve has said he also wants to make a third film.
Warner Bros. and Legendary announced on Tuesday (October 26) that the second instalment would be released in October 2023 after ‘Dune’ saw a strong box office draw in its first week.
Now Villeneuve is even speculating the possibility of a third film.
“I always envisioned three movies,” the director told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s not that I want to do a franchise, but this is ‘Dune’, and ‘Dune’ is a huge story. In order to honor it, I think you would need at least three movies. That would be the dream. To follow Paul Atreides and his full arc would be nice.”
‘Dune’ is based on the first half of the first novel by Frank Herbert.
“Herbert wrote six books, and the more he was writing, the more it was getting psychedelic,” Villeneuve added.
“So I don’t know how some of them could be adapted. One thing at a time. If I ever have the chance to do ‘Dune: Part Two’ and ‘Dune Messiah, I’m blessed.”
The director, who is no stranger to ambitious cinematic undertakings, having directed ‘Blade Runner 2049’ and ‘Arrival’, has previously spoken about the challenges of adapting the book for ‘Dune: Part 2’.
Speaking to Total Film in August, he said: “We have been hearing in the past few decades that it’s not possible to adapt this book, and that it’s an impossible task. I think that in the back of the mind of the studio, it’s still the same!”
He added: “The first thing was to prove that there was a beautiful, popular movie that can exist, and I think that I proved that — everybody at Warner Bros and Legendary, they are 100 percent behind the project.”
“They feel that it would need a really bad outcome at the box office to not have a ‘Dune: Part Two,’ because they love the movie. They are proud of the movie, so they want the movie to move forward. And they still did half of it. So, you know, I’m very optimistic.