It makes sense that fans of the two “Dune” films would want Denis Villeneuve to continue to make movies in that franchise forever. He has already done what many people thought impossible—make “Dune” a huge hit. Sadly, the filmmaker has said that he is only interested in making one more film in the franchise. However, Villeneuve is more than happy to tease more stories in the ‘Dune’ universe for other filmmakers to tackle.
READ MORE: 2024 Fall Film Preview: 50 Movies To Watch
Speaking to Vanity Fair, while talking about the crazy success of “Dune: Part Two” (it’s awards season after all), Denis Villeneuve stood firm on his promise of one more film in the franchise— “Dune: Messiah.” That said, he knows there are more ‘Dune’ books past ‘Messiah,’ so he’d be willing to help the transition for new filmmakers to pick up the ball and run with it.
“Listen, if ‘Dune: Messiah’ happens, it will have been many years for me on Arrakis, and I would love to do something else,” said Villeneuve. “I think that it would be a good idea for me to make sure that, in Messiah, there are the seeds in the project if someone wants to do something else afterwards, because they are beautiful books. They are more difficult to adapt. They become more and more esoteric. It’s a bit more tricky to adapt, but I’m not closing the door. I will not do it myself, but it could happen with someone else.”
Villeneuve isn’t wrong about the stark difference in tone and subject matter between “Dune: Messiah” and the books that follow. Things get really weird. So, it makes sense that the filmmaker sees ‘Messiah’ as a clear ending point for his time on Arrakis.
The real question is what happens to ‘Dune’ after Villeneuve finishes ‘Messiah.’ (Assuming that film does happen, and it would be a shock if it didn’t.) Will Warner Bros. continue the franchise into “Children of Dune” and beyond? With ‘Part Two’ earning more than $700 million worldwide, it seems like WB could keep the ‘Dune’ franchise going with or without Villeneuve. The studio is already doing that with the first venture into TV, ‘Dune: Prophecy.’ If the TV show earns good reviews and viewership, then we are probably looking at a situation where we get a steady stream of ‘Dune’ content for years to come.