Christopher Walken unsure of Dune return

Christopher Walken doesn't yet know if he'll be back for the next instalment in the Dune franchise.

Director Denis Villeneuve revealed last year that he was working on an adaptation of Frank Herbert's novel Dune Messiah, which will likely star returning actors Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh and Anya Taylor-Joy.

Walken, who played Pugh's on-screen father Emperor Shaddam IV in Dune: Part Two, does not yet know if he'll be involved in Messiah.

"I don't know. I don't think I've ever finished a job and knew what the next one was," the 81-year-old told The Wall Street Journal, before explaining that he doesn't plan his projects that far in advance.

"The truth is I don't make choices. I take jobs. I take the next best thing. And that has to do with art, who you're going to be with, sometimes with the location, how much they're going to pay you. All sorts of things. I wish I could make choices."

Dune: Messiah is set 12 years after the events of Dune and focuses on Shaddam's daughter Princess Irulan, played by Pugh, and Chalamet's Paul Atreides. Emperor Shaddam is only mentioned in the novel, meaning he may not appear in the film adaptation.

Previously, Walken's co-star Javier Bardem told Variety that he expects to return as Stilgar because the character is in the book.

"I know that I'm in the book, so I should be in the script. If I'm not, I will be very angry and I will let him know. I will go to Canada," he said in November. "Seriously though, I totally love him (Villeneuve). I adore him. Whatever he wants, and whatever he decides, it will be fine for me. Absolutely."

Villeneuve hopes to begin filming Dune: Messiah, which will be his last Dune film, in 2026.