HBO Max Executive Teases Dune Prequel Series Timeline

While Frank Herbert's Dune saga has been around for decades, the franchise has been reinvigorated thanks to Warner Bros. 2021 movie, which became a hit among critics and fans alike. The film is getting a sequel that is set to arrive next year, but as fans of Herbert's source material know, there is enough within the text that could potentially be explored in entire trilogies of films. Luckily, that canon is about to be touched on with Dune: The Sisterhood, an HBO Max-exclusive television series that is set to begin production very soon— and according to the streaming service's head of originals, Sarah Aubrey, you don't need to have seen the first Dune to enjoy it.

"Well, I think you should because they are great," Aubrey revealed in a recent interview with Variety. "But Dune: The Sisterhood is a prequel set thousands of years before Denis Villeneuve's Dune films."

Dune: The Sisterhood will star Emily Watson, Shirley Henderson, Indira Varma, Travis Fimmel, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Faoileann Cunningham, Aoife Hinds, and Chloe Lea. Diane Ademu-John serves as creator, writer, co-showrunner and executive producer. Alison Schapker is co-showrunner and executive producer. Emmy-winner Johan Renck will direct the first two episodes and executive-produce. The series will be written by returning franchise writer Jon Spaihts, with Diane Ademu-John as showrunner, and Johan Renck as the director of the first two episodes.

What is Dune: The Sisterhood about?

Dune: The Sisterhood has been previously described as being told through the eyes of a mysterious order of women known as the Bene Gesserit. Given extraordinary abilities by their mastery of the body and the mind, the Bene Gesserit expertly weave through the feudal politics and intrigue of The Imperium, pursuing plans of their own that will ultimately lead them to the enigmatic planet Arrakis, known to its inhabitants as Dune. It will serve as a prequel to the films. 

"Oh, that is carrying on and I'm not allowed to talk about it very much," Spaihts previously said during an interview with The Playlist. "But that effort is alive and well. I ended up getting moved off of it to work, not just on Dune: Part Two, but to investigate other cinematic prospects in the Dune universe, which we are still talking about and which, again, I'm not allowed to say very much about. But it is a very rich world in which to play, and I think it is ripe with opportunities for storytelling in every direction. They're well down the road, but I honestly don't know the details of the timing."

Are you excited for Dune: The Sisterhood? What do you think of its newest cast member? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!