After Dune: Part Two hit theaters, director Denis Villeneuve—who found great success with the first Dune, and enjoyed a similar blockbuster response to its sequel—understandably said he’d be taking a break from Frank Herbert’s world before wrapping up the epic trilogy with Dune Messiah.
But last fall, he said he realized his desire to get back to Arrakis was greater than his desire for some downtime—and a new interview suggests that might happen very soon indeed.
Talking to the Wrap, Villeneuve was asked what the standout element of his Dune experience has been so far. After explaining that he had a pinch-me moment after Dune: Part Two was completed—just absorbing that he’d actually completed a Dune adaptation, something he called “an incredible privilege”—he confessed that even after all that work, he hungered for more.
“I think my biggest surprise about this is that I don’t want to run away from Arrakis. I’m still inspired to go back,” he told the trade. “That’s the thing that I was the most surprised by. I felt that after Part Two, I would need a break. I thought that I would want to go write a few films or do a couple of things before going back to Dune Messiah. But the images that kept coming back to my mind, the appetite is absolutely intact. That’s the biggest surprise. I still want to go back to Arrakis.”
He clarified that his return trip to Arrakis will be in service of Dune Messiah—and then he’ll be ready to move on. “After that, it would become unhealthy,” he joked.
There’s no timeline yet on when Dune Messiah might appear, but we do know that in June 2024, Warner Bros. planted a flag on December 18, 2026 for a Villeneuve project described only as an “event film.” (Worth noting: as of November 2024, there’s no longer an untitled Star Wars movie also slated for that date.) Release dates are always subject to change, of course, but for now that’s the best intel we have on when those sandworms might rise again.
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