Director ‘in the writing zone’ for Dune 3

Zendaya will return for the third Dune movie, which is tipped to come out in 2026. Photo / Getty Images

Director Denis Villeneuve has started work on a third Dune movie.

The 57-year-old helmed the 2021 sci-fi blockbuster and its 2024 sequel Dune: Part Two, and has now revealed he is currently immersed “deep” into novelist Frank Herbert’s space fantasy universe as he continues to work on the third instalment.

Villeneuve initially thought he would be stepping back from the series for a time to focus on other projects.

“Let’s say that I thought that after Part Two that I will take a break, that I will go back in the woods and stay in the woods for a while to recover,” he told Deadline.

“But the woods weren’t really suiting me, and I would go back behind the camera faster than I think. But that’s all I can say.”

Villeneuve revealed he was “in the writing zone right now”, though he made an effort not to call the film Dune: Part Three.

He explained the first two movies felt like “one entity” to him.

“It’s a movie made in two parts. It’s finished, it’s done,” he said of his earlier Dune films.

The third instalment will be based on Herbert’s second novel in the franchise Dune: Messiah, and will follow Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) 12 years into his reign as emperor of the known universe as the religious sect he created around himself begins to spiral out of his control.

The filmmaker added he wanted to “do something completely different” with the upcoming blockbuster, while also sticking to the general story beats of Herbert’s book.

“Like Herbert did with Dune: Messiah, I think it’ll be a great idea to do something completely different. The story takes place like 12 years after where we left the characters at the end of Part Two,” Villeneuve said.

“Their journey, their story is different this time, and that’s why I always say that while it’s the same world it’s a new film with new circumstances.”

As well as Chalamet, the director confirmed Zendaya, Florence Pugh and Anya Taylor-Joy would be reprising their respective roles in the film, and hinted audiences could expect to see the movie in 2026.

“They have to return. They are with the main cast when it happens. And more worms. What can I say?” Villeneuve said.