Warner Bros. Sets Release Dates for Next Monsterverse Film and Denis Villeneuve’s Secret Project – IGN

Warner Bros. has added an untitled Denis Villeneuve film and the next MonsterVerse project to its calendar of upcoming movies.

The Dune director’s next event film with Legendary Pictures is now slotted to arrive December 18, 2026. No official details about what the project will be have been shared. However, Deadline reports that Warner Bros. and Legendary are holding the slot with the expectation that it will eventually be filled by Villeneuve’s Dune 3. The site adds that the director is still penning its script and locking down a cast.

The unnamed MonsterVerse project will follow Villeneuve’s 2026 film on March 26, 2027. The date was previously held by an untitled animated movie, which has now been removed from the calendar.

The last MonsterVerse film, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, arrived in March of this year and saw its two title kaiju team up against underworld forces. It’s unclear how the Legendary franchise will continue, but it seems the hunt for a director is underway. The Hollywood Reporter reported last month that Adam Wingard, who helmed the 2024 installment as well as 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, would not return for the next film. The site also reported that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings screenwriter had signed on to write the next MonsterVerse follow-up.

We thought Godzilla x Kong was “okay” and gave it a 6/10 in our review. It managed to stomp out of theaters with impressive numbers, ending its run with a worldwide total of $567,650,016 (via Box Office Mojo).

Villeneuve, meanwhile, delivered his spicey sequel, Dune: Part Two, in March of this year. Our review awarded it an 8/10 at the time, saying, “Featuring absolutely staggering visuals, Dune: Part Two is an arresting, transportive middle entry in Denis Villeneuve’s tricky sci-fi saga.” It had an impressive run in theaters, too, ending its time at the box office with a worldwide total of $711,844,358 (via Box Office Mojo). The director said in January that he was already working on a script for his adaptation of Dune Messiah and expects it to be his last project set in the Dune universe.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

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