Summary
- Dune: Part Two is currently the highest grossing movie of the year.
- A third movie seems inevitable thanks to the success of the second one.
- Denis Villeneuve wants to take a break from Dune first.
- The director doesn't want to make a new installment just for the sake of it.
Almost three years after the release of Denis Villeneuve's Dune, the big screen adaptation of Frank Herbert's famous novel of the same name got a sequel earlier this month. Dune: Part Two hit theaters on March 1 and went on to become the highest-grossing film of 2024 with an impressive $575 million at the box office.
Picking up after the events of the first film, Dune: Part Two follows Paul Atreides, played by Timothée Chalamet, as he establishes himself among the Fremen inhabiting the deserts of Arrakis and leads them to war with House Harkonnen, who treacherously attacked his family in the first installment, while learning their ways and much about himself and his family.
Given the massive success of Dune: Part Two, it's no surprise that fans are already looking forward to the third installment of the franchise, which will likely be an adaptation of the next book in the cycle – Dune Messiah. But it seems that it's too early to expect the movie, as Denis Villeneuve will only agree to make it under one condition.
Dune Fatigue
Apparently, it's not just superhero movies that can cause fatigue. In the case of Dune, however, it's the director himself who has grown tired of the universe he's been working on since February 2017.
'I did both movies back-to-back, which makes absolute sense for me,' Denis Villeneuve shared in a recent interview. '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.'
Will There Be Dune 3?
Surely, the director would like to expand the world of Dune after he has had some rest. But under no circumstances will he rush into it just because of the hype surrounding it.
'First, make sure that we have a strong screenplay. The thing I want to avoid is not having something ready. I never did it, and now I feel it could be dangerous because of the enthusiasm. We need to make sure all the ideas are on paper,' Villeneuve explained.
Ultimately, the director's motto is that if you can't do something well, don't do it at all. And with his admitted perfectionism, he wants the third film to surpass its predecessor. Otherwise, there's no point in making it at all.
'If we go back, it needs to be real, it needs to be relevant, if ever I do Dune Messiah, [it's] because it's going to be better than Part Two. Otherwise, I don't do it,' Villeneuve said.
So it looks like it will be many years before the third Dune movie sees the light of day.
Source: Empire.