Denis Villeneuve’s latest Dune film is not called what book readers might have hoped. There’s a sandy first image to mark the start of production.
Dune 3 will be released in cinemas on December 17, 2026. And to meet the deadline, Denis Villeneuve is now launching his ornithopter to return to the desert planet Arrakis in time.
A few important updates on the grand finale of his sci-fi trilogy:
- The movie will be officially titled
Dune: Part Three
. This of course makes sense in view of the previous parts, but is likely to disappoint readers of the books who were hoping for Dune: Messiah as in the original.
- The production of Dune: Part Three has now officially started. There’s a first picture that – well – actually just shows a lot of desert, sand and desert sand.
- Dune: Part Three will be shot entirely with IMAX cameras. So far, only Christopher Nolan has dared to do this with his latest film The Odyssey. The larger film format and higher resolution should make Dune 3 even more visually stunning than Part 1 and Part 2.
"…on a journey into that land where we walk without footprints."
Production has begun on the next film in Denis Villeneuve's Dune trilogy.
📷 Denis Villeneuve
📍 Arrakis pic.twitter.com/JYP8ShbrRx— DUNE (@dunemovie) July 8, 2025
What else you should know about Dune: Part Three
Dune: Part Three will be the third and final film in Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi trilogy and is based on Frank Herbert’s novel Dune: Messiah. Incidentally, the book is entitled The Lord of the Desert Planets in Germany.
The plot jumps about 12 years into the future, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) rules over the universe after a brutal war that has claimed hundreds of billions of victims.
And not everyone is happy that Paul is at the top of the food chain. So an intrigue is spun involving both the Bene Gesserit and the Navigator’s Guild. The future of Paul’s children with Chani (Zendaya) will be decided, as will the fate of the universe.
Numerous well-known actors are returning for Dune: Part Three – including Jason Momoa, whose Duncan Idaho actually died in Part 1. New additions to the cast include Robert Pattinson (The Batman) as the shape-shifter Scytale and Nakoaa wolf Momoa, as well as Ida Brooke as Paul and Chani’s twin children Leto II and Ghanima.
With Part Three, Villeneuve says goodbye to the Dune universe, but it cannot be ruled out that Warner Bros. will continue with the franchise. There would certainly be enough stories by Frank Herbert and his son Brian Herbert, but to be fair, they are becoming increasingly bizarre and unfilmable.
However, this is unlikely to stop a major film studio from capitalizing on a commercially successful and critically acclaimed sci-fi series. What the future holds for Dune remains to be seen; for now, the film adaptation of Messiah is scheduled for December 17, 2026.
