Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming “Dune: Part Two” adapts the second half of Frank Herbert’s original “Dune” novel – the acclaimed first work in a series of books that gets progressively weirder as they go on.
In a recent interview with Empire to discuss the sci-fi epic prior to its release, Villeneuve reiterated his previously expressed hope that if the new film is successful enough, he could shoot a third instalment.
In fact, he’s already begun writing it when asked if he’s made any progress: “If I succeed in making a trilogy, that would be the dream… I will say, there are words on paper.”
The second book, “Dune Messiah,” is a much slimmer book than its predecessor (256 pages to Dune’s 896) and takes place just over a decade after the events of the first book. It serves as something of a coda to Paul’s story.
Speaking about the draw of the story, Villeneuve says his “Dune” film partly covers the territory of the second book anyway:
“‘Dune Messiah’ was written in reaction to the fact that people perceived Paul Atreides as a hero. Which is not what he wanted to do. My adaptation [of ‘Dune’] is closer to his idea that it’s actually a warning.”
He also confirms should it happen, it would be his last in the franchise: “After that, the books become more… esoteric.”
To date, only one screen adaptation of “Dune Messiah” exists which is the 2003 Syfy three-part mini-series “Children of Dune”. That adapts the second and third books and uses ‘Messiah’ as the basis of the first of those parts.
“Dune: Part Two” is now slated to open on March 15th 2024.
