“I’m frankly afraid of the other books”: Denis Villeneuve Has a Little Chance of Returning to Arrakis After Dune 3 for a Very Valid Reason

The filmmaker has reportedly spent six years on the first two films and also has a lineup of other potential projects.

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two has worm-ridden its way to success after debuting with $182 million on opening weekend. The film has earned over $514 million at the international box office, making it the highest-grossing film of 2024 as of now. The Timothée Chalamet starrer has also been widely regarded by critics and audiences as a masterpiece.

The film is a follow-up to 2021’s Dune: Part One, continuing the story of Paul Atreides and his mother Lady Jessica on the desert planet of Arrakis after their family is betrayed by the evil Harkonnens and the Emperor Shaddam IV. Both films are based on Dune by Frank Herbert. While the novel series has four more books, Villeneuve reported is just interested in adapting the second book and wrapping up the story with Dune 3.

Denis Villeneuve Spent Six Years On Arrakis While Filming The Dune Franchise

Denis Villeneuve | Credits: CBC

Denis Villeneuve has spent years chasing after his childhood dream of adapting the Dune novels by Frank Herbert and he finally got to do it with a brilliant cast and a receptive audience that has not let down the sequel since it was released earlier in March. Villeneuve was officially confirmed to be directing the films in 2016 after Legendary Productions acquired the rights (via EW).

The filmmaker had stressed adapting the first novel in two parts due to its extensive details to not miss out on the world-building that the author had done. While there were some changes from the novel, many fans have acknowledged that the Dune films were two of the best adaptations of the material and have called them masterpieces.

Denis Villeneuve mentioned that he went into the first two parts of the film head-first as he knew that he wanted to commit to the material. He said in an interview with Empire about adapting the second novel Dune: Messiah into a third part to round off Paul Atreides’ story in a trilogy. He said,
“I did both movies back-to-back, which makes absolute sense for me. I felt that it was a good idea to move forward right after Part One. We were already designing, writing et cetera. But it also meant that for six years I was on Arrakis non-stop, and I think it will be healthy to step back a little bit. First, make sure that we have a strong screenplay.”
He went on to say that before he could commit to Dune 3, he would have to make sure that solid ideas were on paper and that he wanted to make it better than Dune: Part Two. Dune: Messiah follows the story of Paul Atreides as he takes on the role of the Emperor and covers the time of the Holy War.

Denis Villeneuve Wants To Stop After Adapting Dune: Messiah

A still from Dune: Part Two

Denis Villeneuve has been vocal about his desire to make one more film to wrap up the trilogy before moving on from the franchise. He mentioned that though there were ideas on paper, he wanted to make sure that they were solid before heading on to make the third part of the Dune franchise.

In an interview with Inverse, the filmmaker mentioned how enthusiastic he was at taking a stab at the Arrakis once again, but also wanted to not stay in the same universe for far too long. He mentioned that the films were time-consuming and that he wanted to explore more as well. He said,
“These movies are very long to make, and I was very, very inspired to do Part One and Part Two. And I still feel the spark is still there to make a third one. I’ll see after, how I feel…Time is passing, and I don’t know if I want to spend the rest of my days on Arrakis.”

A still from Dune: Part One

The filmmaker also mentioned how it would become increasingly difficult to get people to be invested after the third part as after Dune: Messiah, the story gets weirder and into pure fantasy territory. Without giving away any spoilers, the character arc of Paul Atreides is generally considered to be done by Dune: Messiah and Children of Dune, after which it goes into his descendants. Villeneuve said,
“I’m frankly afraid of the other books because they become pretty esoteric and more difficult to adapt…If I feel that I still have the energy to do [more Dune movies] after the third one, we’ll see.”
The director reportedly has multiple other films in the pipeline, including a film on Cleopatra and an adaptation of Arthur C Clarke’s sci-fi novel Rendezvous with Rama.