Dune Director Denis Villeneuve Shares Plans for Franchise's Future

It's no secret that Denis Villeneuve has every intention of working on more Dune films after the first one. But how many sequels can we expect from the sci-fi franchise? The filmmaker has revealed his true plans for the future of Dune.

Villeneuve has been vocal about his plans with Dune, stating that there will be a sequel and that it will feature Zendaya's Chani as the main protagonist. It's pretty clear that the Blade Runner 2049 director is throwing himself whole-heartedly into the Dune Universe. However, he also admitted that he has a few limitations.

Screenrant reports that Villeneuve took part in a roundtable Q&A to discuss the movie ahead of Dune's world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival. The filmmaker confirmed that he still intends to work on a second film that will adapt the rest of the book. A third movie will then serve as the adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune Messiah and round out Villeneuve's trilogy.

That's right, Villeneuve is only set on three movies. The Sicario director pointed out that he is keeping his eyes on the present with no plans to go further than a trilogy. Villeneuve then admitted that Dune is "the most challenging movie" he has ever worked on and it required him and his crew to work non-stop for several months.

Although we might not be getting more than three Dune movies, it's still comforting to know that Villeneuve is taking control of the franchise and making sure it is done right. With that in mind, we can't wait to see the first movie in theaters this October.

Dune stars Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem. The film is scheduled for release on October 22, 2021.

Related: Dune Teasers Put The Focus on the Villains of Arrakis