It’s not a done deal and nothing has been formally announced, but it sure looks like we just got a release date for “Dune: Part Three.”
Warner Bros. on Friday issued an update to their theatrical distribution calendar, swapping out an untitled WB Family Event Film for what is now an “Untitled WB/Legendary/Denis Villeneuve Event Film in IMAX.” It will open December 18, 2026.
We’re no detectives, let alone the Lisan al-Gaib, but our intuition from the spice tells us this is probably another “Dune” movie. And no, Villeneuve isn’t planning a family film either.
Reps for Warner Bros. and Legendary declined to comment.
To clarify again, “Dune: Part Three” hasn’t been announced yet or greenlit. But Villeneuve has been talking about a potential sequel incessantly, even before “Part Two” turned out to be a hit. Zendaya has also said she’s ready to go whenever Villeneuve decides to call.
But we don’t even know if he intends to directly adapt Frank Herbert’s “Dune: Messiah” or do something completely different. We did have some ideas though as to what a “Dune” follow-up might look like and how the Herbert books got increasingly weird. We also imagine that whatever it ends up being, Anya Taylor-Joy, who made a brief cameo in “Dune: Part Two,” will probably play a part in it as a younger Atreides sibling.
Curiously, December 18, 2026 is the date that’s currently held by an untitled “Star Wars” movie at Disney. We’ll see if that one holds. There’s been a lot of start and stop with whatever the next “Star Wars” feature turns out to be.
“Dune: Part Two” has made $711.8 million at the global box office. Until the release of “Inside Out 2” earlier this month, it was the highest grossing movie of 2024 and had the biggest opening of 2024 with $82.5 million domestic.
