Dune: Why Doesn't Denis Villeneuve Want to Adapt the Sequels After Dune Messiah?

Dune: Part Two is in theaters now, completing Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Dune, the 1965 sci-fi novel by Frank Herbert. Villeneuve wants to make one more Dune movie, adapting Herbert's first follow-up, Dune Messiah, but none of the books that came after that. While Dune stood for years as a standalone title, Herbert later created several sequels, extending the original Dune Chronicles series to six books – Dune Messiah (1969), Children of Dune (1976), God Emperor of Dune (1981), Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse: Dune (1985). Herbert's son, Brian Hebert, with writing partner Kevin J. Anderson, is still writing and publishing Dune novels.

Why stop with Dune Messiah then? In August 2023, Villeneuve told Empire that, after Dune Messiah, the "books become more… esoteric." What does he mean by that? We can explain, and shed some light on why it may be best to stop adapting The Dune Chronicles with Dune Messiah. (Some SPOILERS for The Dune Chronicles novels will follow).

The Dune Books Get Increasingly Weird

In that Empire quote, Villeneuve carefully considers his words before choosing "esoteric' to describe the Dune novels that came after Dune Messiah. In this context, "esoteric" is a nice, dignified way of saying "absolutely bonkers."

Dune and Dune Messiah are largely political thrillers with philosophical and religious themes that play out against the backdrop of a world steeped in the space opera genre. The subsequent sequels are increasingly invested in the sci-fi aspects of Herbert's world. For example, the later books feature gholas, clone-like copies of dead characters, allowing killed-off characters to make multiple returns.

But beyond cloning tropes, the central plot of The Dune Chronicles gets increasingly heady. Children of Dune is the immediate sequel to Dune Messiah and some fans consider the first three Dune books to form a sub-trilogy within the larger story that can stand alone. That's not enough to get Villeneuve interested in adapting Children of Dune, which involves gholas, characters being taken over by the "memory-ego" of their ancestors, and ends with [SPOILER warning] the transformation of one of its main characters into a human-sandworm hybrid.

And that's pretty tame compared to the second half of Herbert's Dune series. The next book, God Emperor of Dune, is a dense tome that jumps the timeline forward by 3,500 years. Comprised almost entirely of the philosophical musings of its title character, God Emperor of Dune is a make-or-break book for many Dune fans, either the peak of the series or the clear start of diminishing returns, depending on which fan you ask. Either way, the book is practically unfilmable, and yes, I know that's what they used to say about Dune. However, God Emperor of Dune's length quotations, only occasionally interrupted by third-person narration, would make it a next-level challenge. The massive time jump also makes for a good spot for any adaptation to trail off (which is what Sci Fi Channel did with its The Dune Chronicles adaptation – Frank Herbert's Dune and Frank Herbert's Children of Dune – not daring to attempt adaptions of the following novels despite the two miniseries being among the highest-rated programming in the cable network's history).

Frank Herbert Never Completed The Dune Chronicles

What we've mentioned here is only scratching the surface of the various ideas and factions that become more integral to The Dune Chronicles' continuing narrative. The books after God Emperor of Dune -- Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune -- introduce more sci-fi devices, such as beings that seemingly exist outside of time and space. Chapterhouse: Dune is also notorious for ending on a massive cliffhanger. Unfortunately, Herbert died before writing his final Dune novel, leaving the cliffhanger unresolved for years. After the success of their first Dune prequels, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson announced that they had discovered Frank Herbert's notes for the Dune 7, which became the basis for two sequel novels concluding the original Dune Chronicles series, 2006's Hunters of Dune and 2007's Sandworms of Dune. However, the sequels were met with mixed reactions from fans, believing them more in line with the writers' interpretation of Dune's expanded universe than Frank Hebert's original vision. The sequels are not typically considered alongside the original six novels, and while there continue to be comic book adaptations of the Dune prequels, and the upcoming Max streaming series Dune: The Prophecy is based on Sisterhood of Dune, the prequel novel about the Bene Gesserit, many ardent Dune fans still hold up Herbert's original six novels as something separate and special. Adaptations of the Dune works created after Frank Herbert's death may not be met with the same enthusiasm as those based on the original books.

It seems clear that Villeneuve sees Paul Atreides' messianic rise and fall as the core of Dune, and thus wants to see it finished with a Dune Messiah movie, but feels the point is made clear by the end of that story. The rest is unnecessary, or for another director to deal with.

Dune: Part Two Is In Theaters Now

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.