Short of Marvel’s “Avengers” juggernaut, there’s no bigger movie opening in the last few months of this year than Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Three”.
The project, adapting the second book “Dune Messiah,” marks the final time the filmmaker plans to step into the “Dune” universe and comes before he jumps over to reintroducing James Bond to the world.
The new “Dune” also sees a big time jump – the action moving forward 17 years after the events of the second with Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) having launched a universal jihad that he can’t really control.
Speaking with Empire about the new film, the director explained the basic drive of the story:
“We are back with the same characters, but this time the world has totally changed. Their psyches, their perspective on reality has totally changed, and Paul is living with the burden of what he created, trying to find a way out of this spiral of violence.”
Being based on the second book also meant a change to the film’s tone: “The idea was to try to make a movie that will have the same DNA – -it’s a ‘Dune’ movie – but it’s a very different movie. It has a different pacing.”
One thing Villeneuve is clear about is that it’s the final turn for him, and moving onto Bond will serve as a palette cleanser for him:
“I said, ‘Maybe it’s a good idea to go back to this project [“Dune: Part Three”], not out of nostalgia, not because I miss it, but the opposite – I’m tired of it’. I want to make sure that I will be severe with the material. That I will not be complacent. I thought, ‘When [Dune: Part Three is] done, I need a very powerful rocket to pull me away from Arrakis. When I was asked to do the next Bond, I said: ‘Okay, this is what I need.’”
What’s yet to be revealed is just who Villeneuve has in mind to cast as the next James Bond. That is expected to be revealed sometime in the next few months ahead of filming next year.
“Dune: Part Three” opens in cinemas on December 18th.
