The Rumored Dune 4 Director Might Actually Be Perfect
If Children of Dune happens without Denis Villeneuve, there might be a silver lining.
After Denis Villeneuve completes Dune 3, an adaptation of the novel Dune Messiah, he will have essentially wrapped up the story of Paul Atreides. Yet, for fans of the books, Messiah is hardly the end of the story of Arrakis — rather, it’s the prelude to an even bigger epic. While Villeneuve has repeatedly made it clear that he done with the film franchise after the upcoming third movie, that doesn’t mean there won’t be additionally sequels after he steps away. In fact, though unconfirmed publicly, there are rumors that Legendary Pictures is already thinking about possible directions for Dune 4, which would adapt Frank Herbert’s third novel in the series, 1976’s Children of Dune. And now, it seems that the director being considered for Dune 4 would actually be the perfect person to take over for Villeneuve and steer the unwieldy story of Paul and Chani’s kids.
According to Hollywood insider Daniel Richtman, it’s possible that none other than other than Gareth Edwards may take the Dune 4 director’s chair. “Legendary Pictures / WB are interested in Gareth Edwards (Rogue One, Godzilla) to direct Dune 4. Right now he's just being eyed, not sure if there were discussions yet,” Richtman posted.
Gareth Edwards and Denis Villeneuve at a Dune photography exhibition in 2024.
While this leaked piece of information should surely be taken with a grain of salt — even Richtman is questioning his own scoop here — the idea of Edwards helming a Dune movie makes perfect sense. Why? Because Gareth Edwards is the kind of science fiction director you bring in to make sure things look the way they should. But, crucially, he isn’t the kind of director who takes things in a direction fans won’t want.
Case-in-point: the entire Universal Monsterverse, consisting of the Godzilla vs. Kong films as well as the TV series Monarch, all rely on Edward’s 2014 version of Godzilla. That film is arguably less interesting, and less risky than the projects that have come after it, but it’s also a solid movie, and is certainly more coehesive when put next to other films in that franchise. (Cough cough: Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire). Then you’ve got Rogue One, a Star Wars movie whose reputation has been oddly eclipsed by the excellent series Andor, which kind of does what Rogue One tried to do without the fan service. Still, even if Andor is relatively more loved than Rogue One, the latter is a tighter, leaner narrative product, which also makes it more accessible and mainstream.
To put it another way: Edwards is great at taking unwieldy ides that exist within pre-established franchises, and making those ideas work for a non-fan. This skill would be crucial in a hypothetical fourth Dune film. And that’s because Children of Dune has quite a bit of ground to cover, especially if they keep the action of this book to one film.
Anya Taylor-Joy’ Alia would be central to a possible Dune 4 movie.
Unlike Dune Messiah, which will be a somewhat straightforward film about Paul and how he’s locked into a certain fate by his own prescience, Children of Dune arguably lacks a true main character. In this novel, Paul and Chani’s twin children, Leto II and Ghanima, are the titular children, and thus, the most important people in the book. But the novel also focuses on Paul’s sister Alia Atreides getting possessed by the spirit of her grandfather, Baron Harkonnen, as well as a plot from Irulan’s sister, Wensicia, to take over the Imperium. On top of that, you’ve got Paul running around in disguise as a character called “The Preacher” and young Leto II getting curious about what it might be like if he fused his entire body with tiny sandworms.
With films like Rogue One and Godzilla, Gareth Edwards has demonstrated he’s great at juggling a big cast of characters and various sci-fi elements at once. He may not be an auteur like Denis Villeneuve, but with Children of Dune, we want someone who can steer the ship above all else.
