They teased Irulan in Paul's suggestion to Liet Kien that he marry the Emperor's daughter, in Part I.
The problem with finishing at Messiah is that it leaves Alia in charge, although we do get to see Duncan Idaho again as the ghola Hayt. Alia's descent into madness thanks to her maternal grandfather taking her over is one of the best things about Children. However, if they do Children, they've really got to do God Emperor and that could be a pig of a novel to adapt. I have suggested bookending it around Children and making it into two movies but I don't know if public interest would be sustained.
^ As if the Herbert estate hasn't already done that and more on the literary side for going on two decades. Even if Hollywood does the impossible (and likely economically unfeasible) and adapts everything Dune that Frank wrote, I'd hardly call that "milking" by comparison. At the risk of typecasting; Benicio del Toro as Fenring. Characters with idiosyncratic speech patterns are kind of his thing. Mostly though I just want to see that scene where he switches from insipid court flunky to razor sharp political operator on a dime, and the Baron reacts like he just realised he'd been petting a cobra on the head.
Of course it's milking -"The Herbert's do it too" doesn't make it something else. Running anything that makes a buck into the ground is the only business strategy the studios have, now.
They obviously can't cast him, but on my most recent re-read of the original Dune, I imagined William Hartnell as Fenring, and it kind of works.
Oh, that's a terrific dream casting. Bumbling to whip sharp is kind of his thing and he set that standard for The Doctor (although Troughton really cemented it).
So . . . David Bradley? I don't know, he seems a little too old for the role. I know Fenring is presumably in his 80's just like Shaddam, but also like Shaddam one would assume he looks half that age due to the benefits of spice consumption. Either way, Fenring's casting would have to follow suit with whomever they cast as the Emperor since they're supposed to be childhood companions. As for Shohreh Aghdashloo; as much as I love her in literally everything I see and/or hear her in, they've already established that Shaddam is a man. Other complications include male primacy seems to be a thing in Corrino succession, and as has been noted, you can't have a Bene Gesserit Emperor as it would supremely fuck with the lore of this period. The Sisterhood wouldn't make such a direct grab for power until after The Scattering. Now, Shohreh Aghdashloo could be a good Wensicia if they go the Susan Sarandon route and fudge the ages a little, or change her to Wensicia's namesake and Shaddam's sister instead (which may just have been an Encyclopaedia thing, I forget.) Failing that (and assuming they get that far) she'd make a formidable Honored Matres.
Isn't Irulan and Wensicia's mother meant to be a Bene Gesserit and they are trained in the ways of the BG? Does it make sense to have the (female) emperor be BG? It gives that faction too much power and it would expose their secret machinations and interference at the highest level. I think it would unbalance the whole story.
A friend we rarely see wants to go see this in a theater (he's a *huge* movie geek) and my hubby is amenable, so I should be seeing this again soon on A Proper Screen. ETA: Oded Fehr would make a good Emperor (I will watch him in anything). There are several women in the right age group on IMDB, including Hana Kinani (who was very good in a 2019 Twilight Zone ep) and Stephanie Ezekiel.
There is some vegetation but much of what is seen by Dune was introduced by Pardot Kynes and his child Liet. (going by the Dune Enclopedia and original books, not the expanded stuff). I can't remember how in depth the books got into it but the seas of sand below Dune have a fairly life intense cycle. It's really the only alien life shown in the Dune Universe, and much of that may be the source of the oxygen, including the larval stage of sandworms. Anyway, that's apparently where the O2 comes from, that and Arrakis had once been a very verdant planet with water and plants before the worms were introduced. It worked for SyFy. Dune Messiah on it's own would be wierd and empty. It should have been included into Children of Dune, anyway. Unless God Emperor of Dune is three movies of a half-man discussing philosophy, lamenting things, then falling off a cliff they'd have to modify it greatly, and shorten it much. After that the series just gets too damned strange to be any used as a movie. Chairdog anyone? quit reading my mind. it.. can have mixed results
It doesn't sound like Villeneuve will be combining Messiah and Children like the miniseries did but we'll have to wait and see. Those are good suggestions.
Ian McNeice absolutely owned that role. I love rhyming soliloquies, the zest for life (and taking life!). the Baron was two generations away from making a Kwisatch Hadderach, and nearly accomplished the most cunning and underhanded revenge in sci fi (the Possession of Alia). Far more threatening and interesting than the 1984 Baron or the Evil Toad from the current one.