‘Dune: Messiah’ officially in development for Denis Villeneuve

Advance:

• Denis Villeneuve is officially developing ‘Dune: Messiah’.
• He is also in charge of adapting ‘Nuclear War: A Scenario’.
• There are other projects on your to-do list, too.

As ‘Dune: Part Two’ continues to do well at the box office (it’s the highest-grossing film of the year so far, with $637 million worldwide), there’s naturally talk of what co-writer and director Denis Villeneuve might be considering. as a follow-up.

The filmmaker has plenty of options on the table, with a development schedule that includes a third installment of ‘Dune,’ a historical epic starring the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, and an adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s sci-fi tome ‘Rendezvous with Rama.’ ‘.

Now, if Legendary has his way, the director will focus on making ‘Dune: Messiah’ and adding another possible film, adapting Annie Jacobsen’s book ‘Nuclear War: A Scenario’.

What’s happening with ‘Dune: Messiah’?

Villeneuve has previously said that he wants to complete his ‘Dune’ trilogy and continue the main arc of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet).

This is what he said Entertainment Weekly in 2021:

“I always imagined three films. It’s not that I want to make a franchise, but this is ‘Dune,’ and ‘Dune’ is a great story. To honor him, I think you’d need at least three movies. That would be the dream. It would be nice to follow Paul Atreides and his entire arc.”

He has since gone on record to say that the script for the third film is in the works (with Villeneuve once again working alongside Jon Spaihts), but has also commented on the possibility of taking a break between ‘Part Two’ and ‘Messiah’. . . Which is no surprise given the huge challenges involved in bringing these giant films to light.

Still, The history of the deadline on Legendary purchasing the rights to ‘Nuclear War: A Scenario’ for Villeneuve to work on mentions that ‘Dune: Messiah’ is in active development, so there’s a good chance it could be his next film ( or after ‘Rendezvous with Rama’ if it really goes ahead) and the ‘Nuclear War’ will wait in the wings.

What is ‘Nuclear War: a scenario’?

Jacobsen’s tome recently hit the New York Times bestseller lists. The book explores a clockwork scenario of what would happen in the event of a nuclear war, based on dozens of exclusive new interviews with military and civilian experts who built the weapons and have been aware of and responsible for the response plans. . decisions if necessary.

It remains to be seen what Villeneuve, who will produce the adaptation with his producing partner Tanya Lapointe, will do with the subject if he ends up writing or directing it. In the wake of ‘Oppenheimer’s box office success and, more recently, at the Oscars, we could certainly see it becoming a warning about the use of weapons of mass destruction in a politically volatile era like ours.

And it’s not that the filmmakers don’t have experience with nuclear weapons: House Atreides’ atomic weapons influenced the plot of ‘Dune: Part Two’. Then you know it can offer a lot for Legendary’s money.

Other movies similar to ‘Dune: Part Two:’

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