Denis Villeneuve’s next film will be released in 2026, will it be “Dune 3”?

Denis Villeneuve

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Denis Villeneuve’s next feature film will be released during the holidays, although we don’t know exactly what this project will be.

Warner Bros. announced Friday that the filmmaker’s next “event film” will hit theaters on Dec. 18, 2026, and will come from Legendary Entertainment, the production company of his Dune movies.

Plot details have yet to be shared, but Villeneuve, who recently directed Dune: Part Twopreviously stated that a third Dune this film probably wouldn’t be his next film. He has been making a film about nuclear war at Legendary, but sources say Villeneuve may have changed his mind and may shift his attention to Dune. Legendary could not be reached for comment.

Warner also announced that an untitled film from Legendary’s MonsterVerse franchise is scheduled to hit theaters on March 26, 2027. In a similar move, a Locksmith Animation film project that was previously scheduled for that date has been removed from the schedule for studio. The latest MonsterVerse movie is directed by Grant Sputore, who replaces Adam Wingard.

Dune: Part Two was released in theaters in March and has since grossed over $700 million at the global box office. Starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson and Austin Butler, the film, an adaptation of author Frank Herbert’s work, centers on Paul Atreides (Chalamet) working with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen in the wake of the devastating events that befell his family.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter at the time of the Dune Following the release of the sequel, Villeneuve was cautious about what he might work on next, noting that he currently has four projects on the table. He said any potential delays in getting started on the adaptation of Hebert’s 1969 novel The Messiah of Dune for a third film, it would be a matter of “making sure I have the right script.”

Villeneuve added at the time that he might want to work on a project he considered more urgent “before tackling Messiah of the dunes.”

The most recent entry in the MonsterVerse series is Godzilla x Kong: The New EmpireDirector Wingard’s feature film, which was released in theaters in late March and grossed $567 million at the global box office.

—Borys Kit contributed to this story.