Recently, it was announced by Warner Bros. that they would be moving the release of their sci-fi fantasy film “Dune: Part Two” from November 3, 2023 to March 15, 2024. The move stemmed from the studio being upset they wouldn’t be able to get the film’s popular/young cast to help promote the film ahead of release because the actors’ strike has prevented members from doing press/promotion for struck studio work. A key element of the disruptive nature of strikes and how actors could be highlighting how important their contributions are beyond being in front of the camera. Pushing the film into 2024 is an obvious tactic by the studio to a new date when they assumingly believe the strikes could be resolved.

That hasn’t stopped the early promotional campaign for the film such as a new issue of Empire Magazine featuring an interview with co-writer/director Denis Villeneuve and the filmmaker gave a brief update on the status of their third film in a “Dune” trilogy with the adaptation of Frank Herbert‘s second novel, “Dune Messiah.” Something that the director has been talking about making for a while now and seems like there has been some writing taking place.

“If I succeed in making a trilogy, that would be the dream,” the filmmaker told Empire. “’Dune Messiah’ was written in reaction to the fact that people perceived Paul Atreides as a hero,” Villeneuve explains. “Which is not what [Frank Herbert] wanted to do. My adaptation [of Dune] is closer to his idea that it’s actually a warning.”

“I will say, there are words on paper,” Villeneuve said of the status of the third film referred to as “Dune: Part Three.”

There had been previous indications that franchise screenwriter Jon Spaihts (“Prometheus”) had already tossed around ideas, but it’s starting to sound like they might actually be developing an early outline/draft. This wouldn’t be that shocking given Villeneuve has been talking about making his “Dune” trilogy for a while now. The speediness of the development would likely hinge on the material already existing in a book that the public is very much aware of and that fits nicely alongside the last two films. It would also explain why Villeneuve is talking about stepping away from the director’s chair once he completes the trilogy, three films would allow him to accomplish his adaptation without having to wade into the waters of the more wacky elements of the subsequent sequels that got increasingly weirder.

SOURCE: EMPIRE