Following the news of Dune: Part Two getting pushed to next year, the film's director and co-writer Denis Villeneuve has teased a third movie is in the works.
In an interview with Empire, Villeneuve hinted that he started work on a treatment for a potential third movie, should Part Two perform well at the box office when it hits theaters in March 2024. "If I succeed in making a trilogy, that would be the dream," he said, clarifying that a third movie wouldn't be another adaptation of Frank Herbert's original Dune novel but its sequel, Dune Messiah.
"Dune Messiah was written in reaction to the fact that people perceived Paul Atreides as a hero, which is not what he wanted to do," he continued. "My adaptation [of Dune] is closer to his idea that it’s actually a warning. After that, the books become more… esoteric. I will say, there are words on paper."
If Villeneuve does get the opportunity to continue adapting the world of Frank Herbert's Dune, there are plenty more novels for him to work off. In total, Herbert wrote six novels in the series, including his last release, Chapterhouse: Dune. The series continued after his death, with his son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson penning an extensive series of books.
The news comes not long after Warner Bros. announced that Dune: Part Two will now be released on March 15, 2024, due to the continuing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Warner Bros. co-produced the film with Legendary Entertainment, who agreed with the decision to delay the project, which stars Timotheé Chalamet and Zendaya in the lead roles. If the strike were to remain ongoing by the time the movie hits theaters, the two actors would be unable to promote the film.
The delay has impacted the studio's release plans for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, too, which will now be released on April 12, 2024.
