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

Timothée Chalamet Says Dune: Part Three Is "A Big Swing"

Dune: Part Three star Timothée Chalamet says the third movie is "the eeriest one. It’s a big swing.”

There are a lot of big movies coming out at the end of 2026, but one of the bigger ones is absolutely Dune: Part Three. We all thought we'd have to wait a while for the third Dune film, mostly because everyone involved straight up said we would, but bullying via praise works, and here we are. The second Dune book is more of an extended epilogue and has a pretty significant time jump, so it was always going to be different in a bunch of different ways. Star Timothée Chalamet recently did a town hall with Matthew McConaughey (via Variety) and spilled a few details about the third movie. However, when it came to how he approached the first movie, he looked to Oscar Isaac for guidance, explaining that Isaac, "treated it in a Shakespearean way — to play it heightened and not really care about it being heightened."

"I felt kind of thrown by the futurism," Chalamet continued. "I was coming off 'Beautiful Boy' and 'Call Me by Your Name' and movies that were a lot more naturalistic, and this was a huge movie, so I felt intimidated. But especially on this third one, all the great shit you see on screen is from freedom of movement and freedom of choice. And with Denis, we really had a good rhythm. It's the eeriest one. It's a big swing."

Fans of Dune were excited to see the world that Frank Herbert created come to life, and Chalamet spoke about how, in Dune: Part Three, he took the time to learn all of the details. He explained, "On the first 'Dune,' we had an ornithopter sequence that I got a chance to do again in the third, but this time I was way more geared up. On 'Dune 3,' as opposed to the first movie, I came out early and studied the control panel — all sorts of hieroglyphics and things that aren't tethered to reality. I wanted to know what each button did, and invent a dynamic for myself with it." Chalamet also continues to understand how important this franchise and character are to people so no one should expect less from him in this final entry.

"I didn't want to be complacent about a single moment. Everything was sacred, and it was my last time doing a 'Dune' film, so I really wanted to treat it as sacred. Because people can get complacent, but I was more intense on the third one. It felt like that was the natural momentum, so I wanted to push against that as hard as I could."

At the time of writing, we don't have any footage from Dune: Part Three, but considering the scope of the competition it's going up against this December, no one should be surprised if it drops sooner rather than later.

Dune: Part Three 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 first 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 that 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 in April, which was a shame. We received a few confirmations leading up to the production start date in summer 2025. In March 2025, Jason Momoa revealed that he is returning and sharing his thoughts on spoilers for books older than most of the audience. Another casting report that circulated in April 2025 suggested that Robert Pattinson was being considered for the role of Scytale. Initially, it was reported that production was scheduled to start in June, but filming began on July 8, 2025. The official title will be Dune: Part Three, not Dune: Messiah. Dune: Part Three will be released in theaters on December 18, 2026.

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