The actor is as in the dark about the franchise’s future as fans are.
Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two was a faithful adaptation of Frank Herbert’s original novel, and while the story resolved how fans expected, audiences were still given the surprise of seeing Anya Taylor-Joy as Alia Atreides in a brief cameo. While many viewers would understandably assume that this casting was confirming that a third chapter in the franchise was right around the corner, Joy recently revealed that she is as out of the loop on the status of Messiah as the rest of us, though expresses her enthusiasm about getting to return to that world. Even without official confirmation of Messiah, Villeneuve and many others involved with Dune have made it seem like the adaptation would only be a matter of time.
“I’ll know when you do,” Taylor-Joy revealed to British GQ about the status of Messiah. “I think we’re all really hopeful.”
Having starred in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, one might think Joy would be sick of sand and explosive action, but she seems only that much more excited about the possibility of Messiah.
She continued, “Listen, I’m ready now, I’ve done the training … I think you kind of need to do the movie in order to be ready for it.”
Villeneuve expressed heading into the first Dune that he was only adapting the first half of the source material, with the coronavirus pandemic first delaying the movie’s release by a year and the debut of HBO Max resulting in the sci-fi epic landing on the streaming service the same day it hit theaters. While these factors impacted the likelihood of a sequel, Villeneuve was able to complete the story of the novel, with Dune: Part Two becoming one of the biggest financial and critical successes of this year. This reception bodes well for Messiah, but it also sets the bar quite high for Villeneuve making a third film.
“I did both movies back to back, which makes absolute sense for me,” Villeneuve shared with Empire Magazine earlier this year. “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. 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.”
He continued, “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.”
Stay tuned for possible updates on Dune Messiah.
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