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Some older fans still love the original 1984 Dune movie by David Lynch, but for most people today, it’s director Denis Villeneuve’s modern versions of Dune that really brought the story to life. His first Dune movie came out in 2021, and the second part, Dune: Part Two, was released in 2024. Together, the two films were nominated for 15 Oscars, and both were up for Best Picture. The first movie won six awards, and the second won two.
Frank Herbert’s original Dune books are famous for being very complicated, full of deep ideas about politics, religion, and power. Villeneuve made this complicated world easier to understand by splitting the first book into two films, so he had more time to explore the story and its deeper meanings, especially how powerful families and leaders have used lies and manipulation to stay in control for generations.
Here’s the basic story:
Dune takes place far in the future, on a desert planet called Arrakis, also known as Dune. This planet is the only place where a special, magical spice grows. This spice is very important, it makes people smarter, and it’s needed to travel across space. Because of this, it’s the most valuable thing in the universe.
A noble family called House Atreides is put in charge of Arrakis by the powerful Emperor Shaddam IV. But it turns out the Emperor has a secret plan: he actually wants House Atreides destroyed. So, he teams up with the evil House Harkonnen, who used to control Arrakis, to attack and kill the Atreides family.
The young prince of the family, Paul Atreides (played by Timothée Chalamet), escapes the attack along with his mother, Lady Jessica (played by Rebecca Ferguson). They run into the desert and are found by the Fremen, the people who have lived on the planet for generations and know its secrets. The Fremen see Paul as a kind of messiah, someone special who might save them.
Because of all this, the next movie in Villeneuve’s Dune trilogy will be called “Dune Messiah,” which is based on the next book written by Frank Herbert in 1969.
The Dune 3 cast may also include Robert Pattinson
It’s not officially confirmed yet, but there are rumors online, reported by sources like /Film, that actor Robert Pattinson might play a character named Scytale in Dune Messiah. If this is true, it would be a reunion for Pattinson and Timothée Chalamet, since they both acted together in the 2019 Netflix movie The King about King Henry V.
In the Dune Messiah story, Scytale is a Tleilaxu Face Dancer. The Tleilaxu are a secretive and feared group in the Dune world. Face Dancers have a rare ability: they can change their appearance and shape-shift into other people. Fans of the Dune: Prophecy TV series, which takes place 10,000 years before the original Dune story, have already seen Face Dancers in action. For example, there is a character named Sister Theodosia (played by Jade Anouka) who can shapeshift.
Scytale plays an important role in a complicated plot to try to kill Paul. Scytale teams up with the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, who was played by Charlotte Rampling in the earlier Dune movies. The character Scytale is interesting because they can change gender at will, sometimes appearing as male and sometimes as female. It’s not clear yet if Pattinson would play the female version of Scytale or the male one.
Again, Pattinson’s involvement is just a rumor for now. The role hasn’t been officially announced, and because the character can be male or female, Villeneuve might choose to cast a genderqueer or nonbinary actor instead. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
Dune 3 is based on Frank Herbert’s sequel, Dune Messiah
At the end of Dune: Part Two, which finishes the story of the first Dune book, Paul has a big fight with the bad guy, Feyd Rautha, who is from the Harkonnen family. This fight is really about who will control the desert planet, Arrakis. The Emperor himself is there to watch. After Paul wins, he says he will marry the Emperor’s daughter, Princess Irulan, even though this makes his true love, Chani, upset. By marrying Irulan, Paul and the Emperor’s family will take control of Arrakis and start a new time with new religious rules.
This movie shows, even more than the book, how Paul’s mother, Lady Jessica, uses the Fremen people’s religion to help Paul become a powerful leader. She encourages people to believe Paul is a messiah, a special chosen one, because it helps him gain power over the people.
The next story, Dune Messiah, happens 12 years after Dune. Paul is now 30 years old. The movie director, Denis Villeneuve, said he wants to wait a little so Timothée Chalamet, who plays Paul, can look older and ready for the role.
In Dune Messiah, Paul has led a huge holy war called a jihad. This war has spread across the galaxy, and billions of people have died because of it. Paul has special psychic visions and believes that this terrible war was the best possible choice for humanity, even though it caused so much destruction.
The story also shows a group called the Bene Gesserit trying to control the royal families by managing who marries whom, so they stay powerful. Paul has to try to build a new empire but also avoid being trapped by people’s idea of him as a messiah.
A famous character named Duncan Idaho comes back in the story too. In the Dune universe, cloning is possible, and Duncan returns as a clone, called a ghola. In the movies, Jason Momoa plays Duncan.
Denis Villeneuve has wanted to make the Dune Messiah movie for a long time, and now he is writing the script. It’s not clear yet if it will be one movie or two, because the book has a lot of important events.
Denis Villeneuve, Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya are all set to return in Dune 3
Yes, the Dune Messiah movie will definitely be made by Denis Villeneuve. He will both write the script and direct the film. Hans Zimmer, the famous music composer who worked on the first two Dune movies, has already started creating music for this new movie too.
Timothée Chalamet will play Paul again, and now he is finally the right age, about 30 years old, to play the grown-up Paul from the story.
According to a news article, filming for Dune Messiah will probably start in the summer of 2025. This is because Zendaya, who plays Paul’s love Chani, will have some free time then. Right now, Zendaya is very busy working on several big projects like Christopher Nolan’s movie The Odyssey, the third season of the TV show Euphoria, and the new Spider-Man movie coming out in 2026.
So, it looks like Zendaya will come back to play Chani in Dune Messiah. While it’s not officially confirmed yet, it’s expected that Florence Pugh will return as Princess Irulan, and Jason Momoa will return as Duncan Idaho, who is brought back as a clone in the story.
The movie will also show the birth of Paul’s sister, Alia. In Dune: Part Two, she was shown briefly as an adult in a dream. The adult Alia was played by Anya Taylor-Joy. It’s not clear yet if Anya will also play young Alia in this new movie.
It’s also important to remember that Villeneuve’s Dune movies have made some changes from the original books by Frank Herbert. For example, they left out some of the magical parts of the story. So, we don’t know yet if Villeneuve will follow the Dune Messiah book exactly, or if he will make more changes that could change how the story goes.
Dune 3 shooting will begin this summer
According to an article from Deadline, filming for Dune Messiah is set to start this summer. The movie will probably be shot in the same places in Jordan where the first two Dune films were made. Denis Villeneuve, the director, said he was happy to split the first Dune book into two movies because it gave everyone, him, the crew, and the actors, a break from the very hot weather at the filming locations.
Deadline also reported that Warner Bros. has a special spot open on their movie release schedule for December 2026. This spot is saved for a “Denis Villeneuve Event Film,” which many people think will be Dune Messiah. Villeneuve is also working on another movie based on a Pulitzer Prize finalist book called Nuclear War: A Scenario, but that project seems to be taking a backseat for now while he focuses on the new Dune movie.
If everything goes as planned, Dune Messiah will come out around Christmas 2026. This is a smart choice because movies released during the holiday season often get more attention from the Academy Awards. It’s also expected that many of the people who worked on the first two Dune films will come back for the third one. This includes the cinematographer Greig Fraser, who handled the filming, and the costume designers Jacqueline West and Bob Morgan.
However, these are just guesses. Villeneuve might want to try a new style or look for Dune Messiah and decide to hire a different team to help tell this next part of the story in a fresh way. The Dune story is very complex, so maybe Villeneuve will change the visual style to make the story easier to follow. We won’t know for sure until the movie is released in December 2026.