Denis Villeneuve would like to leave Arrakis sooner than later

How much spice is too much? At what point does the meal become overseasoned? Denis Villeneuve might have the answer. Now the director of the world’s biggest science fiction franchise, doomed to spend eternity fielding questions about directing a new Dune or a Star Wars streaming series, Villeneuve is already seeking an exit plan. Speaking to Little Gold Men, Vanity Fair’s Oscar podcast, the Dune director confirmed that he’s interested in doing Dune Messiah but doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life in the sandbox.

For one thing, he’s already completed his Dune “diptych,” which was “a pair of movies that will be the adaptation of the first book.” In his mind, that part of the story is done, it ends on a cliffhanger, and audiences should start adjusting to the fact that Dune Messiah is a very different story in an increasingly strange and esoteric series of books. To wit, this wouldn’t be Dune 3. “If I do a third one, which is in the writing process, it’s not like a trilogy. It’s strange to say that, but if I go back there, it’s to do something that feels different and has its own identity.” It would have to. The movie is set 12 years in the future, which means Timotée Chalamet needs to enter his mustache era. Or, we could just leave aging effects to Villeneuve. ("That’s my problem. I know how to do that.")

It sounds like Villeneuve is holding out for a Harvester of cash because he still hasn’t announced that he’s directing the movie. He has spent “many years” on Arrakis and “would love to do something else,” such as easy projects like Cleopatra. He has an exit plan, though, leaving the later books, the ones where the main character is a sandworm, for other directors. Instead of helming the Children Of Dune, the director would rather “make sure that, in Messiah, there are seeds in the project if someone wants to do something else afterward because they are beautiful books.”

However, he does leave a word of warning for whatever indie director is given the unenviable task of directing the first Dune after Villeneuve. “They are more difficult to adapt. They become more and more esoteric. It’s a bit more tricky to adapt, but I’m not closing the door. I will not do it myself, but it could happen with someone else.” Oh, how generous of him to leave God Emperor of Dune for someone else to direct.