Posted in: Dune, Legendary, Movies, Warner Bros | Tagged: dune: messiah

Dune: Messiah Could Be Here Sooner Than We Thought

The last we heard, Dune: Messiah was a ways away because director Denis Villeneuve needed a break, but it could be here sooner than we thought.

When most people look at Dune: Messiah compared to the first book, some might see it as a sequel, but in some ways, it's more like an extended epilogue that is also completely different from the previous book at the same time. It didn't take long for Frank Herbert to go a little off the rails, with the Dune series taking the whole "Would you still love me if I was a worm" thing to a whole new level, and you can see the beginnings of that in Dune: Messiah. Director Denis Villeneuve has made it very clear that he is coming back for a third Dune film to finish the Paul Atreides arc," he explained in a new interview on Deadline.

He explained that the first two films are "for me like one entity. It's a movie made in two parts. It's finished, it's done." However, he explained that he is approaching Dune: Messiah in a similar way that Herbert approached the book, explaining, "but yes, like Herbert did with Dune: Messiah, I think it'll be a great idea to do something completely different. The story takes place like 12 years after where we left the characters at the end of Part Two. Their journey, their story is different this time, and that's why I always say that while it's the same world it's a new film with new circumstances."

When Dune: Part Two was released, Villeneuve was not shy about pointing out that he was a bit burnt out and needed a break to get some other projects done before he could return to finish the story with Dune: Messiah. These are massive movies, and he's in a rare position where there is a significant time difference between the two books, so time is quite literally on his side. However, we might not have to wait as long for Dune: Messiah as we thought. Villeneuve has a film dated with Warner Bros. for 2026, and he didn't seem keen to say anything about Dune: Messiah taking that release date. He explained, "These movies take a lot of time to be made, so it's best not to say out loud when I might shoot."

However, it also sounds like the break Villeneuve thought he needed before he could return to Arrakis for Dune: Messiah was not as long as he thought it needed to be. "Let's say," he begins, "that I thought that after Part Two that I will take a break, that I will go back in the woods and stay in the woods for a while to recover. But the woods weren't really suiting me, and I would go back behind the camera faster than I think. But that's all I can say." As someone who often thinks about running into the woods to take a break, I don't think I've ever heard a director say anything more relatable. Saying that Dune: Messiah is definitely coming out in 2026 is more than wishful thinking. They have a big cast they need to wrangle, and people are busy. However, "sooner rather than later" sounds like the name of the game for this film, and that is good news.

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