Denis Villeneuve Will Only Do a Dune 3 if it’s Better Than 2

Movies

Dune director Denis Villeneuve sat down with Empire magazine and pledged only to make a Dune Part Three if it’s better than Part Two. Dune Part Two opened to massive critical and financial success earlier this month. Check out Villeneuve’s statement here:

“I did both movies back-to-back, which makes absolute sense for me. I felt that it was a good idea to move forward right after Part One. We were already designing, writing, et cetera. But it also meant that for six years I was on Arrakis non-stop, and I think it will be healthy to step back a little bit. First, make sure that we have a strong screenplay. The thing I want to avoid is not having something ready. I never did it, and now I feel it could be dangerous because of the enthusiasm. We need to make sure all the ideas are on paper.”

“If we go back, it needs to be real, it needs to be relevant. If ever I do Dune Messiah, [it’s] because it’s going to be better than Part Two,” he added. “Otherwise, I don’t do it.”

It’s so refreshing to hear this about a creative property. I can only wish other people had similar standards for their sequels, prequels, etc. I’m not super knowledgeable about Villeneuve, but I enjoyed Arrival and I love his rendition of Dune. I have more respect for a director who wants to have a solid plan in place. Look at what happened to Star Wars without a plan, and Star Wars borrows a lot from Dune. They’re probably the most similar to each other out of any blockbusters, and I have no doubt that Dune could be ruined with a poorly conceived continuation. If they do another movie, I look forward to it. If not, Part Two is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a while.

But what do you think? Sound off in the comments!