Is Dune 2 the end?

Chris Tilly
Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya sharing a tender moment in Dune Part Two.

Critics have seen the sequel, reviews are resoundingly positive, and the movie hits screens soon, but will Dune 2 be the end of the franchise?

David Lynch isn’t happy with his 1984 adaptation of Dune, and the filmmaker certainly struggled to fit all of Frank Herbert’s lengthy sci-fi novel into a single, 137-minute movie.

So when Denis Villeneuve decided to film the tome, he split the story in two, releasing the still epic Dune Part One in 2021, a film that nevertheless clocks in at 155-minutes.

March sees the release of Dune: Part Two, which lasts a butt-numbing 167-minutes. So will that be the last Denis Dune?

Is Dune 2 the end?

While nothing has been confirmed or officially announced, Dune 2 likely isn’t the end of this celluloid saga, with Warner Bros. and Denis Villeneuve actively developing a Dune 3.

Frank Herbert wrote a total of five Dune novels, and for his sequel, Villeneuve is planning to adapt 1969’s ‘Dune Messiah.’

The filmmaker also revealed where he is at with the adaptation during a press conference in December, as reported by Variety: “The screenplay is almost finished but it is not finished. It will take a little time… there’s a dream of making a third movie… it would make absolute sense to me.”

The new movie certainly has a definitive end, while setting storylines up for a potential sequel. But Warner Bros. is doubtless waiting to see how Part Two does at the box office before making any announcement, as it did with Part One.

And Villeneuve himself says he needs a break before any threequel, stating in that same press conference: “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.”

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About The Author

Chris Tilly is the TV and Movies Editor at Dexerto. He has a BA in English Literature, an MA in Newspaper Journalism, and over the last 20 years, he's worked for the likes of Time Out, IGN, and Fandom. Chris loves Star Wars, Marvel, DC, sci-fi, and especially horror, while he knows maybe too much about Alan Partridge. You can email him here: chris.tilly@dexerto.com.