Dune 3’ Gets Official Title, Shot With Imax Cameras
Oscar nominee Denis Villeneuve‘s return to Arrakis in third segment, officially titled Dune: Part Three.
Reports had called the film “Dune Messiah,” a nod to the 1969 book from Frank Herbert that the film adapt as storyline, following Paul “Muad’Dib” Atreides as he takes over as emperor.
But on Rentrak, the film is listed as “Dune: Part Three.”
“Dune: Part Three” will not be entirely shot with Imax cameras, following in the footsteps of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” the first and only film to be produced that way.
Gelfond also touted Imax’s success through the year’s summer blockbuster season, citing that “F1” earned 23% of its opening weekend grosses in Imax auditoriums. Meanwhile, “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” did 20% in Imax its first two weeks.
Filming on Dune: Part Three is set to begin imminently, with Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya reprising their roles.
Jason Momoa will also return for “Part Three,” after featuring in the first “Dune” but not appearing in “Part Two.”
“First, for me, it was really a diptych,” Villeneuve said of the first two “Dune” movies. “It was really a pair of movies that will be the adaptation of the first book. That’s done and finished. If I do a third one, which is in the writing process, it’s not like a trilogy. If I go back there, it’s to do something that feels different and has its own identity.”
Bruce Markoe, senior vice president and head of post-production at Imax, said: “Those movies that were shot with our film cameras receive that kind of nomenclature. Those are different than the ‘Filmed for Imax’ movies, which are all shot with digital cameras. However, a lot of the same kind of process takes place in the making of the movie when they’re shooting with our film cameras,” Markoe said.
“Those movies still do a lot of testing and reviews, and filmmakers work very closely with us throughout the entire production, since it’s our camera on set, whereas the ‘Filmed for Imax’ program is using certified digital cameras that are not necessarily unique to us.”
Dune: Part Three is expected in theaters in December 2026.
