Dune: Messiah finally gets the major update fans have been waiting for, as it’s been officially confirmed the film has started production. On X (formerly Twitter), the official Dune franchise account posted about the news, sharing a photo of the vast, empty Arrakis desert as director Denis Villeneuve and his crew begin their latest and final journey in the acclaimed sci-fi series. The post caption incorporates a portion quote from the Dune: Messiah novel, perhaps giving fans some insight into where the story is headed. Interestingly, the movie’s official title is not revealed, but the project is referred to as the next installment in Villeneuve’s “trilogy.”
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“‘…on a journey into that land where we walk without footprints,’” the caption reads. “Production has begun on the next film in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune trilogy.” Check out the post in the space below:
The third Dune movie came together faster than people were initially expecting. At one point, Villeneuve believed he would need to take a break from the franchise before returning for a third installment, but the enthusiastic response to last year’s Dune: Part Two gave him a renewed sense of energy. Prior to the filming announcement, Villeneuve was busy this year rounding out the movie’s cast. Key additions to the franchise include Robert Pattinson as the villain Scytale and Nakoa-Wolf Momoa and Ida Brooke as the twin children of Paul Atreides and Chani. Jason Momoa is also returning as the ghola Hayt, an artificially created being designed to look just like Paul’s old friend Duncan Idaho.
Though Dune 3 is now in production, Warner Bros. is keeping some key details under wraps. The film has still not been officially added to the studio’s release calendar, although most presume it will take the December 2026 date WB reserved for an unspecified Villeneuve “event film.” It’s also unknown what the movie’s proper title will be. Reports have indicated it will be Dune: Part Three instead of Messiah, despite the film being an adaptation of the Messiah novel.
Now that cameras are rolling, it should be only a matter of time before fans learn more about these key details. In particular, it will be interesting to see when the film will be released. In the time since the announcement of Villeneuve’s mystery 2026 movie, Marvel Studios moved Avengers: Doomsday to December 2026. Considering that Dune is one of WB’s premier franchises from both a critical and commercial perspective, it seems highly unlikely the studio will want a direct head to head box office showdown with Marvel. Dune 3 will probably move to a different date, perhaps a fall window (which is prime awards season real estate). Dune: Part Two was scheduled to come out in November 2023 before it was delayed due to the Hollywood strikes, so WB might look to move Dune: Messiah to early November 2026, where there currently aren’t any high-profile titles scheduled.
It’s also interesting to see the post refer to the film as the closing chapter of a trilogy. There are other books in the Dune novel series after Messiah, but Villeneuve has made clear he intends to stop after he completes this third movie (he already has his next gig lined up: Bond 26). If Dune: Messiah is as successful as its predecessors, WB may look to keep the franchise going by bringing some of those other books to the big screen. But that could be a hard sell without Villeneuve at the helm. He’s proven to be the perfect fit for this material, and it’s difficult to see someone else stepping in and taking over for subsequent installments. Perhaps Dune 3 will be the conclusion of this epic series, telling a compelling story about the corrupting nature of power.
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Image courtesy of Lionsgate
