Denis Villeneuve will be directing a third installment in the Dune science-fiction series, says Warner Brothers, which recently released a trailer for Dune: Part Two. An adaptation of Frank Herbert’s celebrated 1965 novel, the film stars Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides and Zendaya as Chani.

The studio had given the go-ahead for Dune: Part Two as a trilogy after the successful release of the first installment in 2021. It was Villeneuve’s original plan to make only two films, but a third has now been greenlighted.

It’s not yet clear whether Part Three will be yet another adaptation of the first book or whether it will focus on Messiah, the sequel. Dune: Part Two is scheduled for a theatrical release on November 3 of this year, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Villeneuve co-wrote the script for the original Dune film with Jon Spaiths and Eric Roth as an adaptation of Herbert’s 1965 novel. Set in the distant future, Dune is a narrative of the House of Atreides in a battle for the remote and inhospitable planet Arrakis. The novel had earlier been adapted by David Lynch for a film in 1984 and by John Harrison for a television miniseries in 2000.

Paramount had initially hoped to produce a new adaptation until the film and television rights were acquired by Legendary Entertainment in 2016.

Villeneuve signed on as director in February of 2017. Dune was shot at locations in Budapest, Jordan, Norway, and Abu Dhabi during the spring and early summer of 2019.

Originally intended for release late in 2020, Dune’s debut was postponed about a year due to the COVID pandemic. It finally premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival in September of 2021 and opened in US theaters on October 22, also streaming on HBO Max. It was a winner at the box office, earning 2 million on a 5 million budget.



Named one of the top ten films of 2021 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute, Dune won six Oscars at the 94th Academy Awards.

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