It's safe to say that 'Dune: Part 2' has been a huge success at the global box office.
Indeed, Denis Villeneuve's sequel has been one of the biggest hits of the year so far, clocking up numerous 5-star reviews as it expanded upon the story of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his battle for the planet Arrakis.
With that in mind - as well as the manner in which 'Part 2' ended - you would imagine that a third film in the series under Villeneuve's direction is inevitable, but that's not necessarily the case.
Villeneuve appears to be still undecided about taking on the third installment 'Dune: Messiah' (which was the second of Frank Herbert's sci-fi novels), if his recent comments are anything to go by - and he will only make it, he says, on one condition.
"I did both movies back-to-back, which makes absolute sense for me," he told Empire. "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."
He added: "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'. Otherwise, I don’t do it."
However, Villeneuve has, in the past, spoken of his desire to make a third film and even said that he was nearing completion of a script on 'Dune: Messiah'. Several cast members, including Zendaya and Florence Pugh, have said that they will happily return for 'Messiah' if it happens, too. In the meantime - and as 'Part 2' continues to add to its ever-growing $500 million box office profit - it's a case of watching this space.
