The events of the series are chronologically set 10,000 years before the rise of Paul Atreides and follow the birth of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood.
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| Image Credit: HBO |
With less than a month to go until the release of Dune: Prophecy, a prequel series to the successful Dune film saga directed by Dennis Villeneuve and starring Timothée Chalamet, interest in the show is growing. Created by Diane Ademu-John, starting from the novels written by Brian Herbert (son of Frank, author of Dune) and Kevin J. Anderson, the series consists of six episodes – which will debut on Sky and streaming on NOW from November 18. Although the series is still unreleased, in a recent interview the creators of the show talked about the future of the show beyond the first season, thus leaving hope for the formation of a large television narrative universe.
Dune: Prophecy, the showrunner, and the executive producer reveal a multi-year plan for the prequel series
The events of Dune: Prophecy, which is part of the Dune universe created by the acclaimed author Frank Herbert, are chronologically placed 10,000 years before the rise of Paul Atreides (Chalamet) and follow two sisters of the Harkonnen dynasty as they fight the forces that threaten the future of humanity and found the mythical sect that will become known as the Bene Gesserit. In a recent interview with Collider magazine, Alison Schapker (showrunner and executive producer of the show) and Jordan Goldberg (executive producer) had the opportunity to offer some details on the anticipated series and left a glimmer of light for the continuation of the show beyond the first season.
Speaking about the relationship between the network and the show’s creators in creating a series, when asked if HBO Max (the network on which the series will air in the US and other countries around the world) had any special requests, showrunner Schapker responded succinctly: “We have a plan [for future seasons], and they were very happy to listen to it.” Executive producer Goldberg instead offered a few more details about the relationship between the Dune: Prophecy showrunners and the network: “They want character-driven stories, they want it to be provocative, and they consistently asked us to make the story surprising, propulsive and visually breathtaking. When you say the word Dune, then Dune needs a large-scale production. HBO, Max, and Legendary never told us to hold back. They always told us to raise the bar and make it epic, and that’s what we did.”
When asked about the future of the series if there was a three-year plan for the show, actress Olivia Williams joked, “We have a 10,000-year plan. Until Timothée [Chalamet] is born.” Showrunner Schapker explained, “Yes, exactly. There are plans within plans, measured in centuries. No, seriously, we have them. It’s not news that our show is focused on the Bene Gesserit when they were still called the Sisterhood, so we’re at the beginning of that organization, but how do they become the Bene Gesserit? That’s a multi-series journey that we’re working on, and that’s certainly the path we want to take.” Confirming the intention of a multi-season show, executive producer Goldberg chimed in, saying, “Their moves are generational. They work the long haul, so there’s a lot of story to tell.”
Dune: Prophecy stars, in addition to Olivia Williams, Emily Watson, Travis Fimmel, Jodhi May, Mark Strong, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Josh Heuston, Chloe Lea, Jade Anouka, Faoileann Cunningham, Edward Davis, Aoife Hinds, Chris Mason, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Camilla Beeput, Jihae, Tabu, Charithra Chandran, Jessica Barden, Emma Canning and Yerin Ha.
Source: Collider