Everything To Know About ‘Dune: Messiah’: Cast, Plot, Release Date, And More

If you’re a Dune fan, you may have heard some recent buzz about a potential upcoming installment.

Director Denis Villeneuve‘s films are adaptations of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novels. While Herbert only crafted six books himself, a number of novels have also been co-written by his son, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson.

The most recent film installment, Dune: Part Two, starred Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Austin Butler and Florence Pugh, and even featured a cameo from Anya Taylor-Joy. Part Two was also filmed in various locations spanning Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Curious to know if there will be a third movie? We’re here to help.

Here’s what we know about the upcoming third film.

Is a third Dune film happening?

Yes! Deadline reported that a third film is currently in development, and will mark the final film of the Dune trilogy.

Is Denis Villeneuve still on the project?

Yes, again — Villeneuve is developing the film with Legendary Entertainment, per Deadline. Not only is Villeneuve working on this project, but he is also in talks to direct another book-to-movie adaptation, Nuclear War: A Scenario.

What’s the plot of Dune: Messiah?

The film is slated to be an adaptation of Herbert’s Dune Messiah, which marked the second installment in his series that “explores new developments on the desert planet Arrakis, with its intricate social order and its strange threatening environment,” per publisher Macmillan.

“Dune Messiah picks up the story of the man known as Maud’dib, heir to a power unimaginable, bringing to fruition an ambition of unparalleled scale: the centuries-old scheme to create a superbeing who reigns not in the heavens but among men,” Macmillan’s description continues. “But the question is: Do all paths of glory lead to the grave?”

Villeneuve described the novel to Empire as being “written in reaction to the fact that people perceived Paul Atreides as a hero.”

Who is in the cast of the third film?

As the film is still in development, few details have been shared surrounding the cast. However, we can likely expect stars from the first two films to return, including Chalamet and Zendaya.

When will the film be released?

There is no official release date, but media outlets are reporting that Villeneuve is set to take on the next film prior to adapting Nuclear War: A Scenario. Also, Dune: Part Two only hit theaters on March 1, so we might be waiting for a while on this next movie.