Denis Villeneuve shares sad update on 'Dune 4'

Dune: Part Two was caught in the crosshair of Hollywood union strikes, affecting its release date, which has been pushed to March 15 from the original November 3. 

Despite the delay, Denis Villeneuve is teasing a new addition to Frank Herbert's fantasy saga; but stressed that the story could not move forward from potential Dune 3.

During an interview with Empire, the director said that the Arrakis trilogy is on the cards. But, despite ample novel materials, he noted, the sci-fi could not be stretched after that.

"After that the books become more … esoteric," he added.

The award-winning filmmaker expressed his "dream" to complete the making of a Dune threequel before noting that the project is in the pipeline. "There are words on paper," he told the magazine.

Explaining the premise of Part Three, the 55-year-old said, "Dune Messiah was written in reaction to the fact that people perceived Paul Atreides as a hero."

He continued, "Which is not what he wanted to do. My adaptation [of Dune] is closer to his idea that it's actually a warning."

Meanwhile, Dune 3 will be based on events after 12 years of the affairs of the upcoming movie.