Warning: Major SPOILERS for Frank Herber’s Dune Messiah.The latest installment of Denis Villeneuve’s cinematicDunesaga, currently known by the titleDune 3, is advancing toward a late 2026 release. However, Villeneuve’s third movie, which is based on Frank Herbert’s sequel novelDune: Messiah, should be the filmmaker’s last. Although Herbert wrote a total ofsixDunenovels, including one further sequel that features Timothée Chalamet’s character Paul Atreides, It would be a mistake for Villeneuve to bring any more of Herbert’s work to the big screen.
Not only would additionalDunemovies take Villeneuve away from other film projects, but they would risk destroying the legacy he has built for the franchise. Of course, there will be legions of franchise fans who want to seeFrank Herbert’s entire collection ofDunebooksadapted in chronological order of release on the big screen. The fact is, however, Paul Atreides only works as a cinematic hero for the plot of the originalDunenovel and itssequelDune: Messiah. What happens in Herbert’s third novel,Children of Dune, would undermine the onscreen characters Villeneuve and Chalamet have shaped.
Dune 3 Will Provide A Fitting Ending For Paul Atreides’ Character Arc
Dune: Messiah’s Ambiguous Ending Epitomizes Paul As A Hero
Befitting an enigmatic, messianic hero of science fiction, the story of Paul Atreides appears to end ambiguously in Frank Herbert’s bookDune: Messiah. After becoming blind and having lost the ability to prophesize,Paul abides by a tradition of the Fremen, the people of the planet Arrakis, and wanders out into the desert. By this act, Atreides is literally submitting himself toDune, which is another term for Arrakis, and an allusion to the planet’s landscape. What’s more, by respecting Fremen customs, he is securing their loyalty to the House of Atreides for future generations.
We can expect Villeneuve to end the character arc of Paul Atreides more or less the way Herbert does inDune: Messiah.
IfDenis Villeneuve endsDune 3in this way, then we won’t see Paul Atreides die. Timothée Chalamet’s character will simply disappear into the wilderness of Arrakis, unvanquished but humanized.It will be the perfect ending for aDunetrilogy that centers on Atreides, as the saga’s hero retains the veil of mystery with which he first entered the story.
WhileDune 3will inevitably be different from the bookDune: Messiahin certain aspects, in general terms Villeneuve should remain faithful to the overarching plot of the novel, as he did when adapting Frank Herbert’sDunefor his previous two movies. On this basis, we can expect Villeneuve to end the character arc of Paul Atreides more or less the way Herbert does inDune: Messiah, honoring his hero’s legacy with a suitably open-ended exit from the big screen.
Villeneuve Adapting Dune: Messiah’s Sequel Children Of Dune Would Ruin Paul’s Story
What Happens To Paul Atreides In Children Of Dune Undercuts Everything Before It
On the other hand, if Villeneuve were to go back on his original plan for a trilogy ofDunemovies and continue with a further sequel based onFrank Herbert’sChildren of Dune, this decision would completely ruin the ending of Paul Atreides’ story.Children of Dunebrings Paul back from the desert in the guise of a mysterious preacher, only to have him publicly murdered in a humiliating fashion by the forces of his sister Alia, against her will.
For the central figure ofDuneandDune: Messiahto die in such arbitrary and apparently unnecessary circumstances undercuts the entire story arc of Paul Atreides.Not only is his death an anticlimax, but it cheapens his heroic actsof survival prior to this moment, as well as his journey into the desert.
Dune Already Proved The Best Way To Follow Villeneuve’s Movies 21 Years Ago
The Dune franchise has already proven that Denis Villeneuve’s proposed Dune: Part Three isn’t the best way to end Paul Atreides’s epic story.
It’s clear that Herbert is drawing an allegorical comparison between Paul Atreides and Jesus Christ, who according to the Gospel returned from the desert to preach the word of God against the established religious order, before being killed by the Romans for his actions. Nevertheless,continuing the story of Paul Atreides in this way just doesn’t workin cinematic terms and would not work with what the first two movies have done.
Too Many Dune Movies Would Spoil The Franchise And Prevent Villeneuve From Doing Other Projects
It’s Already 8 Years Since Villeneuve Made A Movie That Wasn’t Dune
Even leaving aside what a Denis Villeneuve adaptation ofChildren of Dunewould do to Paul Atreides, more than threeDunefilms based on the books would end up killing the director’s franchiseanyway. There’s already widespread trepidation about how Villeneuve will manage to make a success out ofDune: Messiah, given that Frank Herbert’s sequel novel is far bleaker in tone and more obscure in narrative terms than the book that came before it. If Herbert’s second novel is a challenge, though, it’s nothing compared tothe complications Villeneuve would have withChildren of Dune, let alone Herbert’s final threeDunenovels.
The Secret Obsession That Makes Dune (And Villeneuve’s Other Movies) So Good
Dennis Villeneuve’s obsession with Frank Herbert’s Dune was no secret, but another fixation shaped all his protagonists over the last decade.
In any case, as great as his Dune movies are, Denis Villeneuve has too much to give as one of his generation’s most visionary filmmakers to be tied up with a single franchise. Villeneuve has a big next project in the works, a nuclear apocalypse movie set to be unlike any other ever made. Yet it’d be impossible for him to make this movie or any other if he continued with theDunefranchise.It’s already eight years and counting since Villeneuve released a movie that wasn’t from the Dune franchise, 2017’sBlade Runner 2049. That run may have stretched to a full decade by the time the director finishesDune 3.
Villeneuve Ending His Dune Saga With Messiah Could Make A Perfect Trilogy Like Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Movies
The Director’s First Two Dune Movies Are Worthy Of Their Status As Modern-Day Sci-Fi Masterpieces
If Denis Villeneuve does what he originally set out to do, completing a self-contained trio ofDunemovies,Dune 3could end Villeneuve’s trilogyin the best possible way.Villeneuve’s three-partDunestory would stand the test of time just as Christopher Nolan’sDark Knight Trilogyhas, casting a long shadow over other movies of its age, as well as raising the bar for what’s possible in sci-fi filmmaking.Dune: Messiah’s ending even shares similarities with Nolan’s Batman trilogy, as the fate of Paul Atreides is left unresolved like Bruce Wayne’s at theend ofThe Dark Knight Rises.
Denis Villeneuve himself has explained that his threeDunemovies are not a trilogy, because the first two movies are diptych adapted from a single book. Nevertheless, the three movies will inevitably be viewed as a trilogy by audiences, as they are all part of a single overarching narrative.
It’s not as though the widerDunefranchise will be short of content, with HBO’s reasonably well-reviewed TV showDune: Prophecy likely only the first of several spin-off series based on Frank Herbert’s other novels, as well as the prequelDunenovels of Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. For many more casualDunefans, however, Denis Villeneuve’s movie masterpieces will be the beginning and the end of the story. Villeneuve should maintain his original commitment to quality over quantity, and makeDune 3the best possible ending for Paul Atreides.
