The clues coming out of the film world point toward a third film happening in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune franchise. According to industry insider, Dune 3 is all set to begin filming next year. Warner Bros. has also hinted at the film’s development when they announced an untitled film’s release in December 2026.
While Villeneuve expressed his interest in returning for a third film, he shared that he would stay away from Arrakis for a while before coming back. If everything goes according to plan, the Dune franchise will beat Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy in terms of the gap between second and third films.
Denis Villeneuve’s Dune 3 Beats Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises In One Aspect
After the overwhelming success of Dune: Part Two, both Warner Bros. and Denis Villeneuve would like to return with a new film in the franchise. They even have Frank Herbert’s Dune: Messiah as the source material for a new film. The latest reports allude to the film’s development at the studio currently.
Daniel Richtman, the industry insider, has revealed via his Patreon that the third Dune film will reportedly begin filming in August 2025. Warner Bros. hasn’t confirmed anything about the threequel, but the latest update to its theatrical distribution calendar indicates that the third film is happening.
The studio’s Friday update replaced an “untitled WB Family Event Film” with “untitled WB/Legendary/Denis Villeneuve Event Film in IMAX” (via Deadline). Villeneuve’s name and IMAX hint at a Dune film and the update suggests that the film will open on December 18, 2026.
If it turns out to be Dune 3, Villeneuve’s franchise will have one area where they get to dominate Christopher Nolan‘s successful Dark Knight franchise. According to current reports, the gap between Dune: Part Two (released in March 2024) and Dune 3 will only be two years and eight months.
In comparison, Nolan’s second and third films had a considerable gap of four years between them. The Dark Knight came out in July 2008 and The Dark Knight Rises was released in July 2012. The gaps between the first two films of both Nolan and Villeneuve come close, with a 3-year gap and 2.5-year gap respectively.
Denis Villeneuve Faces Challenges In Making Dune 3 Despite His Interest
During a press conference in South Korea last year, Denis Villeneuve confirmed that the script of Dune 3 was almost finished. However, he revealed that he was not ready to dive into the world of Arrakis again for some time. Villeneuve shared that he will take a break for his mental sanity. The Arrival director shared:
I don’t know exactly when I will go back to Arrakis. I might make a detour before just to go away from the sun. For my mental sanity I might do something in between, but my dream would be to go a last time on this planet that I love.
One other major challenge in front of the director is the treatment of the films by Warner Bros. The studio earlier released Dune: Part Two digitally on April 16, 2024, just 45 days after its theatrical release. Villeneuve, who believes the future of cinema will be on the big screen, would have been furious at this move by the studio (via Variety).
The cast of Dune is also interested in returning for a third film. Timothée Chalamet shared with Total Film magazine, “If the time and opportunity comes to complete the story with Messiah, I think we’re all super enthusiastic about that.” Zendaya also shared with Fandango that she would be up for the role any time Villeneuve calls her (via Variety).
The Dune franchise and the Dark Knight trilogy are now available for streaming on Max.
