Dune Part 2 has been out for a few weeks now and the film continues to be praised and cross box
office milestones. It's just hit $500 million at the global box office and it's clear that
Villeneuve has had a big win the film. But looking ahead and after the director had already addressed
multiple projects that he might take on, what film could we see from him next and what does
it mean for a potential Dune Messiah film too? So in this video, I'm going to be talking about which
film Denis Villeneuve could make next, following the release of Dune Part 2. Before I get into it
though, if you want to see more content on the director, his recent film and eventual future
projects, then don't forget to support this upload by giving it a like rating and subscribing to the
channel. But without further a do, lets dive into what Denis Villeneuve's next film could be.
So with there being much excitement around Dune Part Two since its release,
fans have begun to look ahead at the possibility of there being a 3rd film. We know that Denis
Villeneuve is eager to adapt Dune Messiah, the second book in Frank Herbert's series, and he's
been busy working on a screenplay. However, Warner Bros are still yet to greenlight another sequel,
and while it seems very likely that it will happen after the continuing success of Part 2,
Villeneuve has made it clear that he wants to take a breather before wrapping up his Dune trilogy. In
an interview with The Playlist, he said, “I have other stories I want to tell. I intend to go back
into the snow and dream a little bit to see if I’m going back to Arrakis right away or if I’m taking
a detour just for mental sanity.” If you know the book, you'll know that Dune Messiah highlights
the reign of Paul Atreides’ as Emperor and his challenging relationships with both Princess
Irulan and Chani. Paul's fears of a violent jihad have faded away, but he faces different problems.
There's a conspiracy to overthrow him from power and then the complications surrounding the desire
for an heir. The focus of the book is mainly on palace politics rather than being alligned to
that of a grand movie spectacle and it definitely calls for some reworking both in tone, structure
and character work. Villeneuve and his team have been developing a script for quite some time now,
and the director seems to be taking great care in adapting that source material. He said, “It’s
a movie that is still in the writing process. I want to make sure that we find the best way to
tell that story. We are close, and we are working on it, but it’s not finished.” There's also other
reasons why a Dune Messiah might take a bit longer to come to screen in comparison to the release
time frame of part 1 and 2. For one, the novel takes place 12 years after the events of Part 2,
and if Villeneuve does maintain that time jump, he would have to wait a few years for the actors
to age up a bit. He could adapt the film based on a slightly shorter time jump or find ways to make
that jump feel natural, but I still think there would at least be 4 of 5 years needed. And the
other reason is that based on what the director has said recently, it sounds like he's making one
or two films before coming back to that Messiah storyline. It's understandable that he would want
a break, not just for his own mental sanity but so that Messiah itself can be done right. Look at
how Christopher Nolan took a break in between his Dark Knight films and that 4 year break between
The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. He made other films in between, so I could see Villeneuve
following a similar pattern with his Dune Messiah film. I think it's a healthy choice for him,
and while I would love to see Messiah as soon as possible, he already has a couple of other
film options to consider before that. One of those options is an adaptation of
Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous With Rama. In 2023, Dune screenwriter Eric Roth teased the completion
of a new screenplay. He said, “I just wrote a film for Denis Villeneuve, I won't tell you what it is,
it's kind of a secret of its own. We’ll see what ends up happening with that, but it’s
about space and time, and it’s very long.” Now it's unclear whether he was talking about Rama,
because Villeneuve has come out and said that he's working on a secret project as well, but Roth is
the screenwriter of the Rama film that Denis has confirmed to be working on. Set in the 2130s,
Rama takes us on a thrilling journey and the book is from the same author that brought us 2001:
A Space Odyssey. Rama explores the arrival of an alien starship in our solar system,
a magnificent cylinder measuring around fifty kilometers in length and spins swiftly as it
zooms through space. It's an enigmatic and awe-inspiring artifact that is a true marvel
of technology and it marks humanity's encounter with extraterrestrial beings.
Villeneuve described Rendezvous with Rama as "Arrival on steroids", referring to the
fact that it's about other-worldly beings. And although Eric Roth is currently in the process
of bringing the Clarke novel to life, we still don't have any information about when it will be
released. So this is probably one of my main predictions for what his next film will be.
It seems like whenever Villeneuve is asked about his next film, Rama comes up in the conversation,
and with Erik Roth saying what he did, I think it's likely that this will be the next project
to go into production. You also have to remember that Dune Part 2 was completed earlier last year
and the delay meant that Denis had more time to work on whatever the next film would be.
So I don't think it will be too long before we see that next project in production, and I do
think that it could be Rendezvous With Rama. Now the other main prediction I have for his
next film is that secret project I mentioned before. In a recent interview Denis said,
“I have four projects on the table. One of them is a secret project that I cannot talk about right
now, but that needs to see the light of day quite quickly. So it would be a good idea to
do something in between projects, before tackling Dune Messiah and Cleopatra. All these projects are
still being written, so we’ll see where they go, but I have no control over that.” So basically,
he's saying that Rama or the secret project will be the next one or two films that he will focus
on. There's been talk that this secret project could be James Bond, as for one its secret,
and two, the process of announcing the next bond and director is around the corner. Now
I personally would love to see Denis tackle bond, but if I had to be honest, I don't think it will
be him. He recently spoke out about the process of making Blade Runner 2049 and said that when making
a follow up film to a beloved original or working on an old franchise, it's something he wants to
avoid in the future. In an interview he said, "I was constantly thinking about the original film
as I was making 2049. It was impossible not to. 2049 was really a love letter to the first film,
but it was by far one of the most difficult projects I’ve ever done, and I don’t think I
will ever approach someone else’s universe again. I still wake up sometimes at night,
saying, ‘Why did I do that?’. I’d declined a few other projects of that scale, but at the time,
I said to myself, It’s a crazy project, but it’s worth the risk of losing everything.” Of course,
with Bond you can reinvent or do something different, but there are conventions that you
have to work with too. And applying that to what Denis said about Blade Runner makes me think his
secret project would be something else. I have no idea what it could be but with the director saying
that this secret project needs to see the light of day quickly, you'd think that either this or his
Rama film would be the next ones in production. And this brings me to my last prediction, which is
a film that looks least likely to come next, but a project that Denis still wants to bring to screen
in the years to come. And that is his adaptation of Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra. Krysty Wilson-Cairns,
the talented writer behind 1917 and Last Night In Soho, is currently rewriting Denis Villeneuve's
adaptation of Cleopatra, and actress Zendaya is still on board to portray the character.
Although news about Villeneuve's involvement in the Cleopatra film surfaced almost 6 years ago,
updates on the project ramain. The movie will reportedly delve into Cleopatra's cunning ascent
to power and her masterful art of seduction. In 2023, Villeneuve himself expressed his excitement
about the project, and apparently, the original draft was written by Napoleon writer David Scarpa.
It seems as though Scarpa had been replaced by Krysty, but before that happened, the writer did
give us an idea of what we might see. He described it as a "political thriller" with a hard R rating,
and promised a lean two-hour film filled with political intrigue and assassinations. Production
was originally set to begin in 2024, but based on what Villeneuve said recently, it seems that the
director will aim focus on either his Rama film or that secret project before adapting Cleopatra. He
said that Dune Messiah and Cleopatra would come after the secret project and Rama, so we may be
looking at a good few years before we actually see this. However, the good thing about this news is
that Denis has more time to make the project work and get the script to a place where he feels they
can start production. And with his track record, I don't mind waiting a few years to see it because I
think it will be another great adaptation. But overall, whatever Villeneuve does take on
next, I trust that he'll do something great, both by bringing his filmmaking style to it
and bringing it to life in stunning fashion on the big screen. He is one of the best filmmakers when
it comes to adapting and a lot of his mentioned upcoming projects sound like they can be great
films brought to life. Like I said, I think he will soon be in production with his next film,
and I think it will be either his Rama movie or that secret project. If I had to guess,
I would say that in 2025 and 2027, we'd get those two projects come to screen. And then around 2028
or 2029, I think we'll finally get a Dune Messiah film. I can see it being a good 4 years before
we see Messiah, in a similar way to how it took 4 years to see the conclusion to Nolan's Dark Knight
trilogy. It gives Denis the break he needs to make that script work, make other projects, and it fits
into the context of Messiah being set years after the original book. We'll have to see what happens,
but for now, I'm predicting that Denis will focus on Rama and his secret project first.
But that was my video discussing the different possibilities for Denis Villeneuve's Next film.
I'm really interested to see what project Villeneuve tackles after Dune Part 2 and how
he will put his stamp on it. Again, I don't think it will be too long before we hear which one of
those 4 projects he is making next and it'll be intriguing to see where his Dune Messiah
film will fit into that schedule. But let me know down below in the comments section what film you
think Denis Villeneuve will approach next and what year you could see Dune Messiah releasing in?
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I hope you guys enjoyed it, I've been Cortex and as always make some noise.