Fourth Dune movie reportedly in the works

A fourth Dune movie is reportedly in the works at Warner Bros.

The sci-fi saga has so far been helmed by director Denis Villeneuve - who is currently working on his third and final entry into the franchise Dune: Messiah - though Hollywood insider Daniel Richtman has now claimed Warner Bros is looking to continue the story with or without the filmmaker.

As well as a supposed fourth movie, the studio is also reportedly exploring another spin-off TV series after releasing the Max prequel show Dune: Prophecy in November 2024.

In September, Denis insisted he would not stay in the Dune franchise after Messiah, as the books written by Frank Herbert - which the films are based on - are "tricky to adapt".

During an appearance on Vanity Fair's Little Gold Men podcast, he said: "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.

"They are more difficult to adapt. They become more and more esoteric."

After releasing Dune: Part Two in March 2024, Denis announced he would be taking a break from the series to work on other projects, though later found himself picking the pen back up much sooner than he thought he would.

He explained to Deadline in October: "Let's say that I thought after Part Two that I will take a break, that I will go back in the woods and stay in the woods for a while to recover. But the woods weren't really suiting me, and I would go back behind the camera faster than I thought. But that's all I can say."

At the time, Villeneuve said he was "in the writing zone" for Messiah, though he made an effort not to call the film Dune: Part Three.

He explained the first two films felt like "one entity" to him, before adding: "It's a movie made in two parts. It's finished, it's done."

Dune: Messiah - which will star Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh and Anya Taylor-Joy - will follow Paul Atreides 12 years into his reign as the Emperor of the Known Universe as the religious cult he created around himself begins to spiral out of his control.

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