Dune director Denis Villeneuve indicated that he may take a break before working on Dune: Messiah or be “taking a detour.”

In discussions with The Playlist, he seems back and forth on whether he's working on the new Dune soon or after other endeavors. For now, he's “doing press for Part Two” and “once the movie is out” he intends to “go back into the snow and dream a little bit.”

Denis Villeneuve gives an update on Dune: Messiah

He said, “This is to see if I'm going back to Arrakis right away or if I'm taking a detour just for mental sanity, to take a little distance and get rejuvenated.”

“I have other stories I want to tell, and I'll see….” he added. “The first script that's ready to go in front of cameras [will be the one]. The thing I don't want to do is make compromises, those books are precious too important to me. If I bring Dune: Messiah to the screen, it has to be with the best screenplay possible, and I want to make sure we don't compromise.”

As of now, the screenplay by Jon Spaights for Messiah is not done yet.

“The more time passes by, the more my convictions and will to make it are stronger, but I want to make sure that we find the best way to tell that story; we are close, and we are working on it, but it's not finished,” the director added.

All this said it's uncertain exactly where Dune: Messiah is with Denis Villeneuve. Either he's working on it soon, sleeping on it more, or tackling other projects. Time will tell. Luckily, it sounds like it certainly is being developed.