Dune Director Says the “Meaning” of the Franchise Becomes Clear in Messiah

With Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming Dune: Part Two, he will conclude the journey that kicked off in 2021’s Dune and bring Frank Herbert’s complete novel to a close, but the filmmaker has often expressed his interest in possibly delivering a Dune: Messiah movie, which he recently claimed would confirm the “meaning” of the whole saga. To say that it’s been a tumultuous few years for the movie industry would be a bit of an understatement, with a Dune sequel not being a guarantee at one point, so as the industry moves forward in an age of streaming and with last year’s writers’ and actors’ strikes resolved, Villeneuve could have a clearer picture of what is possible for the franchise. Dune: Part Two is set to hit theaters on March 1st.

“I’m working on four different screenplays — I know that Dune: Messiah will be one of them, I don’t know if it will be the next or the second next,” Villeneuve shared with Cine21. “My job was to try to keep the spirit of Frank Herbert alive as much as possible — the whole meaning of Dune becomes clear with Dune: Messiah.”

Herbert’s original 1965 novel has expanded in a number of ways over the years, earning multiple sequel novels, movies, and TV adaptations. Ahead of the release of Villeneuve’s Dune, the franchise was poised to be a big opportunity for expansion, with the coronavirus pandemic first seeing the film delayed by a year, but also seeing it debuting on HBO Max that same day as its theatrical release. In addition to the upcoming Part Two, the TV series Dune: The Sisterhood is also in the works, though that project has gone through a number of behind-the-scenes changes and delays during its development.

While there was understandably a pressure to move forward on Part Two as quickly as possible, Villeneuve previously explained that he doesn’t know when Messiah could come to life.

“I don’t know exactly when I will go back to Arrakis,” Villeneuve confessed during a press event last month. “I might make a detour before just to go away from the sun. For my mental sanity I might do something in between, but my dream would be to go a last time on this planet that I love.”    

Dune: Part Two is set to hit theaters on March 1st.

Are you hoping we get Dune: Messiah? Let us know in the comments!