Dune: Part Two Director Denis Villeneuve Speaks Out on Hollywood Demand, Rushing Dune 3

As any Marvel Studios fan can tell you, the excitement of a highly anticipated film earning a release date can be met with a mixed response, as apprehension about such a project actually arriving on such a release date can signal there are obstacles in regards to the quality of the story being told. In that sense, Dune and Dune: Part Two director Denis Villeneuve isn’t in a rush to announce a release date or timeline for Dune Messiah, as he expressed that he’s more interested in developing the best story possible as opposed to capitalizing on public interest. Dune: Part Two is set to hit theaters on March 1st.

“There is absolutely a desire to have a third one, but I don’t want to rush it,” Villeneuve confirmed to The Times of London. “The danger in Hollywood is that people get excited and only think about release dates, not quality.”

As compared to other filmmakers, Villeneuve knows all too well the misinterpretations people can make about a film’s release date and an evolving release strategy.

Villeneuve’s first Dune was originally slated to hit theaters in the fall of 2020, though it was pushed into 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Then, Warner Bros. Discovery announced its slate of movies that year would hit both theaters and HBO Max on the same day, a move that Villeneuve vocally decried. Still, Dune would go on to become one of the more financially and critically successful movies of that year.

Dune: Part Two similarly faced release date delays, as it was first supposed to hit theaters in the fall of 2023, only to be pushed to March of 2024.

Release dates aren’t the only issue Villeneuve took up with the Hollywood industry, as he noted that the success of stories being told on TV caused movie execs to wish for more movies that would replicate the spirit of those series, while Villeneuve thinks that movies should be more ambitious and experimental.

“Frankly, I hate dialogue,” the director confessed. “Dialogue is for theatre and television. I don’t remember movies because of a good line, I remember movies because of a strong image. I’m not interested in dialogue at all. Pure image and sound, that is the power of cinema, but it is something not obvious when you watch movies today. Movies have been corrupted by television.”

He continued, “In a perfect world, I’d make a compelling movie that doesn’t feel like an experiment but does not have a single word in it either … People would leave the cinema and say, ‘Wait, there was no dialogue?’ But they won’t feel the lack.”

Frank Herbert’s novel Dune was first brought to life back in 1984 by David Lynch, with that project being considered a disappointment by many, Lynch included, largely due to the dense source material not translating well into a single feature. Even without Part Two officially being confirmed, Villeneuve only adapted the first half of the story for the original Dune. With the two films together running for more than five hours, the director isn’t nervous about audiences remaining invested, as he pointed towards last year’s success of Oppenheimer as proof of viewer interest.

“I trust the audience … This story’s too dense. I would never make Dune as one movie. This was the only way I could succeed,” Villeneuve pointed out. “Also, think of Oppenheimer … It is a three-hour, rated-R movie about nuclear physics that is mostly talking. But the public was young — that was the movie of the year by far for my kids. There is a trend. The youth love to watch long movies because if they pay, they want to see something substantial. They are craving meaningful content.”

Dune: Part Two will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee. 

The big-screen epic Dune: Part Two includes Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Léa Seydoux, with Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, and Javier Bardem. Denis Villeneuve directed from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jon Spaihts based on Frank Herbert‘s iconic novel. 

Dune: Part Two lands in theaters on March 1st. Stay tuned for updates on Dune Messiah.

Are you hoping we get a third film in the series? Let us know in the comments!