Denis Villeneuve has repeatedly said Dune: Messiah will be his last movie in the franchise. However, Warner Bros. is already eyeing a fourth Dune movie and has a director in mind.
Per Daniel Richtman, the studio has approached Gareth Edwards about potentially helming Dune 4. Edwards is best known for directing 2010’s Monsters, 2014’s Godzilla, and 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Edwards released his first film in seven years in 2023 with The Creator, an action film depicting a battle between humanity and AI. Edwards’ next film, Jurassic World Rebirth, will be one of summer 2025’s biggest blockbusters. Because of his strong background in sci-fi and visual effects, the studio approaching Edwards to direct an action spectacle like Dune 4 makes sense, though it remains a rumor.
Several books could be adapted for Dune 4, including Children of Dune and God Emperor of Dune. Though Villeneuve will not be the one to helm Dune 4, he believes another filmmaker could expand Frank Herbert’s Dune universe.
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“I think that it would be a good idea for me to make sure that, in Messiah, there are the seeds in the project if someone wants to do something else afterwards, because they are beautiful books,” Villeneuve said. “They are more difficult to adapt. They become more and more esoteric. It’s a bit more tricky to adapt, but I’m not closing the door. I will not do it myself, but it could happen with someone else.”
Warner Bros. and Legendary have not officially announced a start date for Dune: Messiah. A recent report from Deadline stated Dune 3 plans to start filming this summer instead of waiting until early 2026. The studio has a Denis Villeneuve event film dated December 2026, with Dune: Messiah rumored to land on that date.