The third installment in Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune trilogy is officially titled Dune: Part Three, and fans aren’t thrilled.
Many hoped it would adopt the name of the second book in the series, Dune Messiah, as it is expected to follow that storyline.
Earlier reports had referred to the movie as Dune Messiah, assuming it would share the same title as the 1969 novel.
However, it seems the director has opted to stick with the naming convention established by the first two films — Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024) — which together covered the contents of the first book.
“I am sorry, but that is a terrible title,” one fan wrote on X. A second agreed: “Ngl [not gonna lie] hate the title. Messiah is so much better.”
“Is WB drunk or what?” a third questioned, arguing that “Messiah is about to be the hardest subtitle ever for a film. The second film was titled Part Two because it was still adapting the first book, but now the third film is adapting a new book and they still went with Part Three.”
“How long did it take them to come up with that name?” a fourth quipped.
Others speculated that the name change came because “it’s probably because it’s gonna be different from Dune Messiah.”
“Makes sense. No need to confuse new viewers with the Messiah title,” one suggested, with another commenting: “Title likely suggest it may mix some parts of Children of Dune in Messiah. Very curious if it will setup a Children of Dune movie in a few years.”
Dune: Part Three will see Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya reprise their roles as lovers Paul Atreides and Chani, respectively. Jason Momoa, who appeared in the first Dune but not the second, has confirmed he will make his return as Duncan Idaho in Part Three.
Filming has reportedly commenced in Budapest, where Zendaya recently arrived for what will be an “extensive, multi-location, multi-month shoot,” according to World of Reel.
Meanwhile, Chalamet has been spotted in St. Tropez, France, with his girlfriend Kylie Jenner, apparently sporting a shaved head in preparation for his return to Arrakis.
Scheduled to release December 18, 2026, Dune: Part Three comes after the second film in the series earned more than $700 million worldwide and five Oscar nominations.
Villeneuve has previously insisted that the next Dune adaptation “will not be the completion of a trilogy.”
Instead, he told Deadline in October 2024 that he sees the first two films as “one entity. It’s a movie made in two parts. It’s finished, it’s done.”
“Like Herbert did with Dune Messiah, I think it’ll be a great idea to do something completely different,” he revealed. “The story takes place like 12 years after where we left the characters at the end of Part Two. Their journey, their story is different this time, and that’s why I always say that while it’s the same world, it’s a new film with new circumstances.”
Dune: Part Three is expected to be released December 18, 2026.
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