Before Denis Villeneuve starts working on the next James Bond movie, he’ll deliver Dune: Part Three to the 2026 movies schedule. The filmmaker is wrapping up his time in this sci-fi world with the film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1969 novel Dune Messiah. Rebecca Ferguson is among the familiar faces who will be back for Dune 3, and the actress opened up reprising Lady Jessica under Villeneuve’s direction again.
While speaking about her new movie A House of Dynamite, which debuts in theaters this Friday and will be accessible with a Netflix subscription starting October 24, Ferguson told Indiewire that she’s already shot her Dune: Part Three scenes. The actress won’t have as big a presence in the threequel compared to the first two Dune movies, saying:
I don’t have a big part in this one, [she’s] just barely in the book. I’m not sure I was supposed to be in it and Denis had a little idea. The script is phenomenal. It’s really hard to create a film, it’s such a dense book. There’s so much to tell. [Denis] does dip in and out and he does try and he does want to have certain connections and tentacles to the book. Whatever Denis touches I think is phenomenal.
Jessica was indeed not present in Dune Messiah, as she’d returned to Calandan while her son, Paul Atreides, stayed to rule Arrakis. However, Denis Villeneuve found a way to insert Rebecca Ferguson’s version of the character into the story, and it sounds like she’s impressed with how he pulled that off. I’ll be curious to what this minor role entails and how much screen time this will give her with Timothée Chalamet, who plays Paul.
The good news is that if Children of Dune, which follows Dune Messiah, is also adapted into a movie, Rebecca Ferguson will have plenty to do, as Lady Jessica has a major role in that story. The bad news, as mentioned earlier, is that Denis Villeneuve won’t be directing her. Considering how critically and commercially successful the Dune movies have been for Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary, I suspect they’ll want to keep this film series going after Villeneuve’s exit. So if Ferguson can be persuaded to do a Children of Dune movie, it’ll be interesting to hear her opinion about what it was like being directed in this franchise by someone new.
Going back to Dune: Part Three, Florence Pugh, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin and Anya Taylor-Joy are also reprising their respective roles. They’ll be joined by newcomers Nakoa-Wolf Momoa and Ida Brooke as Paul and Chani’s children, Leto II and Ghanima, and Robert Pattinson has been cast in an undisclosed role. As with Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve co-wrote the Part Three script with Jon Spaihts.
Dune: Part Three is set to hit theaters on December 18, 2026, the same day as Avengers: Doomsday. If you have an HBO Max subscription, you can stream the first two Dune movies, as well as the prequel TV series Dune: Prophecy, whenever you’d like.