Despite only coming out recently, Denis Villeneuve's Dune movies are already considered some of the best sci-fi movies of all time. The second film picked up a number of Oscar nominations, although Villeneuve was noticeably snubbed for Best Director. The acclaimed filmmaker recently explained the reason he was convinced to work on the threequel Dune: Messiah so soon, and it makes sense.
While he was originally going to take a break from Arrakis, Villeneuve admitted he's already begun writing Dune 3. The first two movies (which are streaming with a Max subscription) were universally acclaimed, and Dune 2's ending set up what'll come next with Messiah. As the Arrival director told Collider, it was audience reactions to the bleak ending that inspired him to dive back in. As he put it:
Chani's heart is broken, and it's the beginning of the Holy War and that's where we left, so in a way, I'd say it's quite similar. I was expecting to do something else before, but frankly, that's the inspiration that came to my mind as I took a break this summer and was going back and finishing the story. I was really moved by the way Part Two was received by cinephiles around the world, and I felt an appetite and a desire to see more and a responsibility to finish that story.
Honestly, this sounds pretty convincing. The Dune 2 ending saw Timothée Chalamet's Paul Atreides seemingly abandon his principals in search of power. He embraced the idea of being Lisan al Gaib, and stages a coup to marry Florence Pugh's Princess Irulan. Through it all Zendaya's character Chani looks on in disappointment and digust, before eventually departing on a Sandworm.
This was a pretty wild cliffhanger for those new to Frank Herbert's universe, and it sounds like Denis Villeneuve has heard fan calls for another movie sooner rather than later. And that inspired him to begin writing the screenplay for Dune: Messiah so shortly after his first sequel hit theaters last year.
Narratively, there are a number of major threads to pull from for the forthcoming threequel in the Dune franchise. There's obviously the prophesy surrounding Paul, and the destruction he's meant to bring in his place of power. We were also introduced to Anya Taylor-Joy's Alia Atreides, who appeared to her brother from within the womb. She'll presumably be a major character in Messiah, and it should be interesting to see how that changes the family dynamic with Lady Jessica.
Unfortunately, the exact timeline for when to expect Dune: Messiah remains unclear for now. Denis Villeneuve is still writing the threequel, so we shouldn't hold our breath for it to miraculously show up on the 2025 movie release dates. But hopefully his excitement means the project is coming together sooner rather than later.