The One Problem Denis Villeneuve Must Overcome While Adapting Dune: Messiah

The upcoming adaptation of Dune: Messiah might be the most anticipated sci-fi project in the near future. However, director Denis Villeneuve faces significant hurdles he must overcome to bring his grand vision to life — perhaps more than any other Dune film or TV show.

The supposedly unfilmable Dune novel had to be split into two parts, with many details condensed or omitted. So, it’s understandable why adapting Dune Messiah might be equally or even more challenging. Frank Herbert’s sequel to his original science fiction novel presents its own set of complications. It’s not just its massive scale and sprawling length, but also its style and substance, that may be hard to translate to the big screen.

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Why Is Dune Messiah Hard To Adapt?

Less Action, More Politics

Dune: Messiah is likely to complete an iconic trilogy that’s comparable to classics like Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, and more. However, the problem with using Dune Messiah as the source material for the third film is that it may not align with the studio’s vision of a contemporary trilogy finale. Compared to Part One, Dune: Part Two leaned heavily on action over dialogue, so it’s only natural for audiences to expect all-out climactic battles in the third film. But fans of the book know that isn’t the case.

What Happens In Dune Messiah?

Dune Messiah picks up 12 years after Paul Atreides becomes emperor. During his reign, over 60 billion people have died, yet Paul continues to justify these actions through his visions. His power grows to such uncontrollable lengths that groups like the Bene Gesserit and the Spacing Guild are forced to conspire to dethrone him.

Dune Messiah’s Lack Of Spectacle

Problem For A Trilogy Finale

The story of Dune Messiah is a dark and introspective affair. Compared to the first book, which had clearly defined villains and dramatic moments like Paul riding a sandworm, this sequel is far less action-packed. Messiah focuses on palace intrigue, Paul’s inner conflicts, and his descent into tyranny. There’s little to no room for cinematic set-pieces. Even the wars are mostly discussed as background events, with only their aftermath being felt later.

This would be a challenge for audiences who are expecting a high-octane spectacle after Part Two. Instead of a blockbuster film, they would get a more meditative story about corruption, sacrifice, and the dangers of absolute power. If the lukewarm response to Dune: Prophecy taught us anything, it’s that this slow-burn, dialogue-heavy tone doesn’t deliver the impact Warner Bros. likely hoped for.

Showing Paul Atreides’ Problematic Arc

Cautionary Tale Against Hero Worship

Another major challenge Villeneuve and his team of writers will need to overcome is how to portray Paul Atreides’ negative arc in Dune: Messiah. Dune: Part Two already showed Timothée Chalamet’s character beginning to let power consume him. While the original Dune serves as a cautionary tale against hero worship, Frank Herbert intentionally wrote Dune Messiah to dismantle any misconceptions about Paul as a hero. He addressed this in a 1980 essay titled Dune Genesis:

This, then, was one of my themes for Dune: Don’t give over all of your critical faculties to people in power, no matter how admirable those people may appear to be. Beneath the hero’s facade you will find a human being who makes human mistakes. Enormous problems arise when human mistakes are made on the grand scale available to a superhero.

Potential Political Correctness Problems

This sequel must fully commit to portraying Paul Atreides as a merciless ruler who kills billions and justifies his actions in the name of a larger purpose. In fact, there’s a key conversation with Stilgar in the book where Paul references real-life historical figures like Genghis Khan and Adolf Hitler to explain his reasoning. Such a scene would likely not translate well into today’s socio-political and cultural climate. Even Dune: Prophecy avoided controversy by not naming the Butlerian Jihad as it is so called in the books, instead referring to the event as the Machine Wars.

It’s unlikely the producers will fully confront these darker aspects of Paul Atreides’ character. On the other hand, softening or omitting them for public consumption would diminish his weight as an anti-hero. While modern audiences are generally accepting of morally gray protagonists, Paul’s journey from the prophesied savior to a genocidal ruler might be too extreme for many to handle.

Dune: Messiah Could Still Be A Masterpiece

A Reward That’s Worth The Risk

Not every major movie needs to feature a grand battle during its third act. Despite Dune Messiah being a largely political and religious story, there is still room for high stakes and threatening enemies. Moreover, the difficulty in adapting Paul’s character development goes on to prove just how great it is. If his arc is portrayed perfectly, it could become an iconic achievement in cinema for deconstructing the hero archetype on this scale.

The best way to achieve this is to actually depict the war — to show parts of it, rather than starting the story after it has already occurred, as in the book. Villeneuve had already done this in previous films by expanding on elements of Dune that Herbert glossed over or relegated to the background. Peter Jackson did something similar with The Lord of the Rings, where he took relatively minor details from the books and transformed them into epic set pieces.

If anyone is capable of pulling it off, it has to be Denis Villeneuve. The Blade Runner 2049 director could still choose to take his own creative liberties and incorporate new elements of the Holy War to spice it up. Some consider the Dune Messiah novel to be an epilogue to Dune, while others see it as a companion piece. However, it’s up to Villeneuve to transform it into a signature franchise finale that balances both action and philosophy.

Dune: Part Two

Release Date

February 27, 2024

Director

Denis Villeneuve

Runtime

167 minutes