Following Dune: Part Two’s number one opening weekend, Legendary Entertainment CEO Josh Grode says the studio is prepared to move forward on Dune 3 once director Denis Villeneuve cracks the script.
“I think this is a movie where you know the word of mouth is going to carry it. It is a stupendous piece of filmmaking. There’s no other way to say it. I’ve just about run out of adjectives,” Grode said in an interview with CNBC. “We have to have all creative stakeholders aligned and support the vision. I think everybody is very excited and really enjoying this moment and if Denis [Villeneuve] gets the script right and he feels that he can deliver another experience on par with what we’ve just completed then I don’t see why not.”
Villeneuve helmed 2021’s Dune and the recent installment currently playing in theaters. As the first movie managed to amass $435 million worldwide during the pandemic as well as HBO Max’s day-and-date release strategy, Dune: Part Two appears to be tracking even bigger than its predecessor. The sequel earned $81.5 million domestically in its opening weekend and another $97 million internationally.
Dune: Messiah
Though Villeneuve expressed taking a break from the world of Arrakis in favor of an original project, the director is currently developing the threequel script based on Frank Herbert‘s 1969 novel Dune: Messiah. Additionally, Part Two’s conclusion plants the seeds for a much darker fate for Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet).
“All of the elements are there,” Villeneuve said to Total Film Magazine. “But I think the movie adaptation is more tragic than the book. The way that Part Two ends…it would create a total balance and equilibrium to finish Paul’s storyline in what we could say in Part Three.”
Dune: Part Two is now playing in theaters. Dune 3 does not have a release date.
