Dune Director Calls Paul Atreides the Michael Corleone of Sci-Fi

Denis Villeneuve talks Dune: Part Two and The Godfather.

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two is currently the most successful film of the year, and fans are eager for the director to make a third installment. Villeneuve recently spoke with The New York Times, and revealed he is currently writing Dune: Messiah, and shared some thoughts about the reactions to the film ranging from the ongoing Stilgar memes to the hilariously NSFW popcorn bucket released by AMC Theatres. During the chat, Villeneuve also compared Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) to one of the most famous characters in cinema, Micahel Corleone (Al Pacino).

“Like the Michael Corleone of sci-fi, he becomes what he wanted to avoid. And he will try to find a way to save his soul in the third part,” Villeneuve teased. 

This isn’t the first time Villeneuve has compared the lead in Dune to the lead in The Godfather. He made similar comments while chatting with Empire back in 2020.

“Paul has been raised in a very strict environment with a lot of training, because he’s the son of a Duke and one day… he’s training to be the Duke,” Villeneuve explained. “But as much as he’s been prepared and trained for that role, is it really what he dreams to be? That’s the contradiction of that character. It’s like Michael Corleone in The Godfather – it’s someone that has a very tragic fate and he will become something that he was not wishing to become.”

Will Dune: Part 3 Happen?

Fans are now wondering about the next Dune installment, especially considering the second film sets up more of the story originally created by Frank Herbert. Villeneuve previously spoke about the next movie, Dune: Messiah, and explained that he’s not interested in rushing out the film. However, The Hollywood Reporter shared the news that the threequel is currently in development..

“That anger [felt by Zendaya’s character at the end of Part Two] is tremendous,” Villeneuve explained to The New York Times. “I don’t want to reveal what I’m going to do with the third movie. I know exactly what to do. I’m writing it right now. But there’s a lot of firepower there, and I’m very excited about that decision.”

“I did both movies back to back, which makes absolute sense for me,” Villeneuve previously shared with Empire Magazine. “I felt that it was a good idea to move forward right after Part One. We were already designing, writing et cetera. But it also meant that for six years I was on Arrakis non-stop, and I think it will be healthy to step back a little bit. First, make sure that we have a strong screenplay. The thing I want to avoid is not having something ready. I never did it, and now I feel it could be dangerous because of the enthusiasm. We need to make sure all the ideas are on paper.”

“If we go back, it needs to be real, it needs to be relevant, if ever I do Dune Messiah, [it’s] because it’s going to be better than Part Two. Otherwise, I don’t do it,” he added. 

Dune: Part Two is now available to purchase on VOD.