Denis Villeneuve’sDunemovies have been incredibly successful, both critically and commercially, but those very sameDunemovies made several changes from the booksthat will make it extremely difficult to continue the franchise into the future. The films are based on Frank Herbert’s hugely popular sci-fi epic of the same name, which later continued with several sequels and spinoff properties that helped expand this fictional world to a huge extent. WhileVilleneuve has done a great jobcapturing that enormous scope on the screen, the later sequels will prove difficult to fit into his cinematic world.
The main criticism that Villeneuve’sDunehas faced from fans of Herbert’s original novel is thatit doesn’t quite capture the outlandish, absurd sci-fi conceptsthat make this universe so unique. He does a great job of making everything seem grand and epic, with the huge worms and complex politics, but there’s a weirdness to theDunenovel that isn’t captured in the film. This will only become more of a challenge inDune Messiah, as characters like Scytale, Edric, and Hayt enter the story. However, Villeneuve’s decision to make his movies more grounded and realistic may actually prove smart.
The Dune Books Will Only Get More “Unfilmable” After Dune: Messiah
The Later Sequels Have Some Wild Sci-Fi Ideas
With Villeneuve’sDune: Messiahofficially confirmed, it’s no surprise that fans of the franchise are beginning to speculate on how he will bring these unique characters from the page to the screen. The movie contains so many fascinating species, from psychic humanoid fishes to brainwashed revived corpses -it’s much weirder and less traditional than anything that was included in the first movies. And it only gets more absurd from there - later sequels would even see one character merge his physical form with a sand worm. It’s details like these that have left theDunefranchise considered “unfilmable” for so long.
Dune 3 Is Happening Much Quicker Than Messiah’s Story Should & I Hope 1 Detail Isn’t Changed
Development on Dune 3 is moving quicker than expected for a Dune Messiah adaptation, and it hopefully doesn’t mean Villeneuve changes this detail.
It’s these details in the later sequels that have deterred so many filmmakers from tackling theDunefranchise over the years, and while David Lynch produced a fascinating version in the 1980s,Villeneuve will be the first to get this far through the series. It will certainly be interesting to see how he tackles characters like Scytale and Edric inDune: Messiah, as their physical forms and abilities certainly don’t fit with the grounded universe that he’s created in the first two films. Events inChildren of Dune, and particularlyGod Emperor of Dune, are almost impossible to imagine on-screen.
Denis Villeneuve Making Dune More Grounded Can Help Future Adaptations
His New Approach Could Make The Series More Accessible
Villeneuve will have to take more creative liberties than ever before withDune: Messiah, but this could be the secret ingredient to finally making this franchise work on the big screen. It would be impossible to fully capture the eccentric magic of Herbert’s later characters, so perhaps grounding them in reality is the only way of making these stories work. They would certainly be different, and some audiences will undoubtedly take issue with the changes necessary to make it work, butit may be the only way of getting these stories in theaterswithout completely alienating the audience.
He’s taking an interesting approach to the sequels, changing the aspects that he feels aren’t suitable for the screen and giving them a new spin that’s more accessible.
MakingDuneaccessible is something that’s never been done before, but Villeneuve achieved it with his first two movies. The filmmaker has already changed major aspects of the story, such asAlia’s new role inDune: Part 2,which means that certain details simply couldn’t be book-accurate anymore without a complete ret-con of the first two films. He’s taking an interesting approach to the sequels, changing the aspects that he feels aren’t suitable for the screen and giving them a new spin that’s more accessible.His films are much looser as adaptations, but this means they’re much more digestible.
Can Dune’s Movie Franchise Continue After Messiah Without Denis Villeneuve?
There May Be Room For Spinoffs If The Sequels Don’t Happen
Since the first installment was released,Villeneuve has always wanted to make threeDunemovies, exclusively following Paul’s storyline and ending with the shocking conclusion of the second book. However,it’s unlikely that Warner Bros. will let this successful franchise end so easily, most likely finding another director to carry the torch forward and either adapt the further sequels or continue with new spinoffs likeDune: Prophecy.
The future of theDunefranchise is definitely uncertain, andDune: Messiahwill be a great test for gauging how audiences react to the more outlandish, absurdist aspects of Herbert’s story. If it’s a success, then there’s definitely room for this series to explore the later books and get progressively weirder as time goes on, but as far as Villeneuve’s movies are concerned, a more grounded approach seems to be the smartest way of ensuring these stories get told while keeping general audiences on board.
Dune
Dune is a sci-fi franchise created by Frank Herbert with the 1965 novel of the same name. In 1984, the first live-action adaptation was released from director David Lynch and starring Kyle MacLachlan. About 20 years later, a TV mini-series was released, followed by a new adaptation starring Timothée Chalamet.
