Since the critical and commercial success of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024), anticipation for Dune 3, based on author Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah, has been constantly high. And now, Villeneuve has provided an exciting update about the script of the movie.
Dune: Messiah’s Denis Villeneuve says Part 3 script is ‘in the works’
Denis Villeneuve revealed during an interview at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival that the script for Dune 3 was already “in the works.” At TIFF, the acclaimed filmmaker will host the back-to-back screenings (with an intermission in between) of Dune and Dune: Part Two at the Scotiabank Theatre today.
While speaking to Variety, Villeneuve was asked if there was a script for Dune 3. “It’s in the works,” the Blade Runner 2049 director said. He added, “That’s why I am not staying here [TIFF] very long.”
You can check out the interview snippet below:
In the same interview, Villeneuve also reflected on the impact of the Dune movies. “Dune Part 1 was released at the end of the pandemic, so I didn’t have the chance to make contact with the audience,” the filmmaker recalled. “I was disconnected from the audience. So, when we did the tour for Part 2, we felt the joy and the appetite for the second film. It really went straight to my heart to see how much people were waiting for the film and ready to love it,” he added.
Notably, Villeneuve wrote the screenplays of both Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two. In late 2023, he said at a press conference that the script for Dune 3 was “almost finished.” He revealed, “Dune 3 is being written right now. The screenplay is almost finished but it is not finished. It will take a little time…There’s a dream of making a third movie…it would make absolute sense to me.” (via Variety).
It’s unclear whether the recent update is about the same version of the Dune 3 script or a different draft.
