Dune 3 Got An Exciting Update, And The Threequel Has Never Felt More Real

I’ve been cautiously hopeful ever since the announcement Denis Villeneuve would direct a third installment in his Dune saga. But as we know, “hope clouds observation.” Or something like that. But the threequel just hit an exciting milestone that makes that 2026 movie release feel truly locked in. Consider me buzzing.

The reveal came via Timothée Chalamet fan account Timothée Chalamet Nation on X (formerly Twitter), which posted a production image announcing, “That’s a wrap!” on Dune: Part Three, along with a thank-you to the cast and crew and a note touting a theatrical date—again, per the fan account’s post, not the studio’s. The shared image, shown below, featuring a wrap screen and a still of Chalamet’s Paul Atreides, is the clearest public signal yet that the next chapter is moving from the shifting sands of development into post-production.

Early reports suggested the production began in July and clocked roughly four months of filming before calling it. Allegedly, and bolstered by the image revealed in the post above, Warner Bros. has settled on the straightforward title Dune: Part Three, and not Dune: Messiah, even as the story is drawn from and set to be a book-to-screen adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1969 third novel in the Dune series of novels. That naming choice could be quietly telling. It suggests Villeneuve isn’t just adapting Messiah; he may be threading in pieces of Children of Dune to close the trilogy in one sweeping chapter.

Casting backs this read. Per Empire’s reporting, Nakoa-Wolf Momoa and Ida Brooke have joined the Dune 3 cast as Leto II and Ghanima, the children of Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and Chani (Zendaya). That all but confirms a time jump, aging the twins past their newborn moment at the end of Messiah and nudging the story toward the next book’s terrain. How far Villeneuve goes is the big swing—maybe a handful of pages to set an endgame, maybe a bolder reshape that spotlights the twins’ rise. The safer bet is the former, but the door’s open.

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There’s a format twist, too. Whereas the first two films were shot digitally, Part Three is being shot on film, specifically 15-perf 65mm IMAX and 5-perf 65mm, per Kodak’s now-deleted Instagram story tease which was documented over on Reddit. With Linus Sandgren behind the camera, expect a grain-rich, organic finish that leans into heat haze, skin tone, and sheer scale in ways even premium digital struggles to match. Villeneuve has never been shy about image craft; this reads like a final-chapter flex.

With Dune: Part Three officially wrapped, the clock’s ticking, and momentum is real. The film hits theaters on December 18, 2026—going head-to-head with Avengers: Doomsday at the box office. After the mega success of Barbenheimer, we know smart counterprogramming can explode; fans are already calling this one “Dunesday.” I’ve never been more pumped.

As we wait for more information on the upcoming third movie in the sci-fi epic franchise, we can revisit the first two films, available to stream with an HBO Max subscription.