Near the end of 2025 we will be treated to Dune Part 3 which will complete Paul's saga and close out the franchise for this director.
Having recently reread Dune Messiah I thought it would be interesting to speculate, in light of the changes the filmmakers made with Dune Parts 1 and 2, the problems that these creators backed themselves into in adapting this book. All of this is speculation because we won't have a trailer until later this year.
Consider this a heavy spoiler posting so if you haven't seen the saga or read the books stop now. For the rest, let's dive in.
I reread both Dune and Dune Messiah in preparation for these films and I can say that I got more out of them now than when I was younger. I will also stipulate that the changes made for the current films make sense for the film but not necessarily for what the books were doing. This is okay. They are different mediums and choices must be made to make it work.
For Dune, very broadly, there were only two big changes that fundamentally altered the story. The first was the time compression. A lot more time passes in the novel vs. the film, so much so that Alia, Paul's sister isn't even born during the film's run time. We do get a future vision of her which creates a different problem but I will address that later. The second big change is what they did with Chani. Paul's love for her is the same but they gave her agency that makes her more modern than the book does. The film ends with her leaving Paul as his forces are about to go out and lay siege to the galaxy.
Bold choices. I think they work. But it runs into a brick wall when adapting Dune Messiah. The novel uses a conspiracy plot to drive the action where the Bene Gesserit, Spacing Guild and the Thelaxiu as well as Irulan attempt to kill new Emperor Paul. Paul is conflicted because he's trying to wind down the holy war he started as well as save the life of the one he loves. He succeeds at one and fails at the other.
The first rule of adaptation is what do you cut? A friend suggested that the conspiracy plot might not even be used. Another crisis could be invoked or invented. We know by the casting that Scytale, the Thelaxiu is involved, Duncan Idaho returns and Alia is part of this story as well.
Everyone has been aged up in the film version. This is logical. Paul starts out at about 15 in novel Dune, ages to about 18 during the course of it. He's about 30 in novel Dune Messiah. Alia is about 15 or so in that book. Timothy Chalamet at least looked younger even though they elaged him up about 10 years for the film version.
Whipe Duncan Idaho is brought back in a logical way, getting Alia to the proper age for the actress playing her is going to require interesting leaps in "just go with it" logic.
That's actually part of casting. Making the audience believe it.
The biggest problem unfortunately has to do with Chani's inclusion in the plot. The way she is setup in the film version she either has to become part of the conspiracy to kill him or she is part of some kind of resistance movement on Arrakis. Maybe both. In the novel she gives birth to twins and dies during the birth. It is possible that she could be pregnant at film's end as she walks into the desert. This creates an age problem for the twins but the film's timeline and the book's timeline are already diverging. What's a little more.
I have a feeling that however they cope with the changes made for Chani, Princess Irulan's role will have an expansion. Her novel role is not insignificant but they had already beefed up her role in the film version. It would make sense to continue that.
If I was helping adapt this I would probably steal a technique from James Cameron or Peter Jackson. Open with the Holy War to quickly setup how we got here, end with some event that shows just how awful this conquest was and the need for the conspiracy to take out Emperor Paul. Bring in Chani and have her work with Irulan and the Thelaxiu. Newly resurrected Duncan Idaho is presented to Paul as a gift from the Thelaxiu and the conspiracy is set in motion. From there we more or less follow the plot of the novel. Alia will work with Duncan, Stilgar and Paul to unravel the conspiracy. As for who betrays who we'll just keep the audience guessing because the main antagonist of this plot is a shape shifting assassin.
Incidentally I am looking forward to Anya Taylor Joy playing Alia because she technically already played this character. She was Olga of the Birch Forest in Robert Eggers The Northman. Viking Sorcereress. She was scary.
I might be wrong about all this. If nothing else I want to see how the filmmakers solve the problems in front of them as well as those they created.
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