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

Dune: Messiah – Florence Pugh Is Returning, Wants "More Cool Outfits"

Florence Pugh is returning as Princess Irulan in Dune: Messiah, which will reportedly film this summer, and says, "I want more cool outfits!"

Dune is one of those properties that is incredibly irritating to write about because, on the one hand, it is a classic and a foundational piece of fiction that has inspired countless other works. It was first published in 1965. On the other hand, it's one of those books that isn't exactly easy to read for some, and it's also massive, so despite being so foundational, plenty of people probably haven't read it. However, the benchmark for spoilers can only go so far. Dune: Messiah was released in 1969, and if it were a person, they would have an AARP membership and more than a few grey hairs. So, no whining about spoilers; let's get that out of the way right at the beginning of covering this adaptation.

At the end of Dune: Part Two, Paul proposes to Princess Irulan to secure his title as Emporer. It's a political marriage and one that will be important in the second book. So it's not at all surprising to hear that Florence Pugh will be returning as Irulan. Despite her minimal screen time in the previous film, she plays a much larger role in Dune: Messiah, so seeing what Pugh does with this character will be fun. In a long piece by Harpers Bazaar, there is another report that Dune: Messiah will film this summer, so Pugh will be busy with the Thunderbolts* press tour, Avengers: Doomsday filming, and then Dune: Messiah. She also has her eye on the most important prize, saying, "I hope we see more of her. I want more cool outfits!" Seems reasonable.

Dune: Messiah Went From "Someday" To "Next Day" Overnight

When Dune: Part Two was released, director Denis Villeneuve was sending some mixed signals if we're being honest. On the one hand, he wanted a very well-deserved break before tackling a possible third Dune film, which was completely understandable. These films are massive and were shot fairly close together, not to mention COVID-19 got in the way of post-production on the second film and pre-production on the second. Then he would turn around and say how the script for Dune: Messiah was almost done, or Hans Zimmer would say he was already writing music for the film despite it not actually being greenlit by anyone and Villeneuve insisting he needed a break. It turns out that you can praise someone so much that they end up doing the opposite of what they said they would do. Dune: Messiah was officially confirmed to be in development in April 2024, but there is no confirmed release date, though it is speculated it is December 2026. In February 2025, Villeneuve confirmed the love the second film got did play a part in him deciding not to take a (still well-earned) break, saying he "was really moved by the way Part Two was received by cinephiles around the world, and I felt an appetite and a desire to see more and a responsibility to finish that story."

Despite having ample opportunity to do so, Warner Bros. did not address the Dune: Messiah shaped elephant in the room during its CinemaCon presentation earlier this month, which was a shame. Right now, there has been very little confirmed information about the film, so something tangible would have been nice, even if it was just confirmation that pre-production was being worked on and they had a production start date ready to go. They didn't, and now we're here to speculate until someone comes out and says something. Some things have been going around, like Jason Momoa revealing that he is returning and letting everyone know his opinion on spoilers for books older than most of the audience. We also heard that production was set to start this summer, perhaps in June, if the sources were to be believed. Casting reports have started getting floated around, including Robert Pattinson being eyed as Scytale.

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