Dune Part 3's release date revealed (but you might not like it)

The third part of Dune has finally been given a release date, but there's a fair wait for the next part of the story.

Dune Part 3 is due in 2026, revealed as part of an IMAX release announcement.

Previously, in June 2024, we heard series director Denis Villeneuve’s next project would have a December 2026 release date.

So, yeh, not only might we be waiting until 2026 to see Dune Part 3, it may well be the very end of 2026.

This would mean a slightly larger time gap between the second and third films, and the first and second. Each will be well over two years, though.

Villeneuve is apparently trying to fit in another epic between the movies this one, Cleopatra. Way back in 2021 he was also linked to Arthur C. Clarke adaptation Rendezvous With Rama.

That’s three major projects, and not a whole lot of time with which to work if Dune 3 is to come out in 2026.

Box office numbers suggest Dune would be the favourite of these projects among the Hollywood execs.

Dune: Part Two managed to significantly outperform the 2021 original, with $711 million to Dune: Part One’s $407 million.

The first two movies were an adaption of 1965 novel Dune. The next is expected to use 1969’s Dune Messiah as its source, digging into Paul Atreides’s messiah-like leadership of the Fremen.

That’s not all there is in the series either. It was followed by Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune, all by Frank Herbert.

Herbert died not long after that final novel was published, and the series was continued by Kevin J. Anderson. Those later novels are not generally beloved by Dune fans, though.

Denis Villeneuve has suggested he'll be done after a third Dune movie. Part 3 may prove to be a tricky adaptation too, as the novel features less action and epic world building than the original novel.

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