Paul Atreides and his dynasty will face new threats and dangers in the upcoming adaptation of “Dune: Messiah”

Denis Villeneuve did not want to confirm ‘Dune: Part 3′ during the promotion of the second installment, which so far has garnered applause from the criticism and the public. In fact, the director confessed that he would only do it if he could meet one condition: that it was better than the previous ones. It seems like the filmmaker has been convinced because Legendary has confirmed to Variety that they’re already working on the next movie with Villeneuve. As you would expect no specific details have been revealed so far, beyond the ones provided by the novel on which it will be based.

If the two installments are based on the first novel of the saga written by Frank Herbert, the third film will adapt ‘Dune: Messiah’, a book published in 1969.

‘Dune’ so far and the premise of ‘Dune: Messiah’ and ‘Dune: Part 3′

Both ‘Dune’ and ‘Dune: Part 2′ follow the story of Paul Atreides, the son of Duke Leto, ruler of Arrakis. When the Harkonnens lose the planet, they put all their conspiratorial machinery in motion and decide to eliminate their enemy. The murder of the duke is the beginning, because his real objective is to annihilate House Atreides completely. It is not in his plans that Paul and his mother, the lady Jessica, escape into the dangerous desert. But they get it. And so, they fight for survival and earn their place among the Fremen. The second film narrates the rise of Paul Muad’Dib, who becomes the messiah of legend. He leads the Fremen against the Harkonnen and the Emperor in a masterstroke that changes their fate forever.

‘Dune: Messiah’ takes place twelve years after the events narrated in the first novel. Paul Atreides not only regains his fiefdom, but rules as Emperor of the Known Universe. Despite its enormous power, religion wreaks havoc, with millions of deaths behind it. However, Paul’s prophecies are even more terrible, so he makes the decision to undertake his most complex plan, the Golden Path. The objective is to reverse the situation and prevent humanity from heading towards an apparently inevitable extinction. At the same time, the remnants of the aristocratic houses hatch new conspiracies to weaken House Atreides and overthrow the emperor.

The succession issue is crucial to the plot of ‘Dune Messiah’. Paul is married to Princess Irulen, the daughter of the former emperor. It is a marriage of convenience, since he is actually in love with Chani, his Fremen lover. Having no offspring, the Atreides’ situation is even more desperate, especially when his own wife is one of the conspirators. Paul Atreides, the face of the Empire and religion, walks in that delicate balance.

‘Dune: Part 2′ was released on March 15, 2024, but it is still in theaters. At the moment it has not been revealed when it will be available on HBO Max. Denis Villeneuve is in talks with Legendary to adapt the novel ‘Nuclear War: A Scenario’.