Denis Villeneuve clarifies 'Dune 3' aims: 'Not a trilogy'

Denis Villeneuve is making it clear the upcoming Dune will not aim to be a trilogy, as the film is currently in the works.

Appearing at Vanity Fair's Little Gold Men podcast, the Canadian filmmaker opens up about the next installment in the sci-fi franchise which will be based on Frank Herbert's novel Dune Messiah.

“First, it’s important that people understand that for me, it was really a diptych,” the director said of the two films he directed. 

“It was really a pair of movies that will be the adaptation of the first book. That’s done and that’s finished."

"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," the 56-year-old noted.

Elsewhere in the interview, Denis revealed he has no plan to direct any more Dune projects after the third installment.

“Listen, if ‘Dune: Messiah’ happens, it will have been many years for me on Arrakis, and I would love to do something else,” he noted.