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Dune: Prophecy

American television series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dune: Prophecy
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Dune: Prophecy is an American science fiction television series developed by Diane Ademu-John and Alison Schapker, with Schapker serving as showrunner and writer. Set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe, the series focuses on the origins of the Bene Gesserit, a powerful social, religious, and political force whose members possess superhuman powers and abilities after undergoing years of intense physical and mental conditioning. Dune: Prophecy is a prequel to the Denis Villeneuve films Dune and Dune: Part Two, taking place approximately 10,000 years earlier. It draws upon, but is set after, the Great Schools of Dune novel trilogy (2012–2016) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

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During Legendary Entertainment's 2016 acquisition of the television and film rights to the Dune book series, it began development of a two-part film adaptation with Denis Villeneuve serving as director by 2017. Legendary Television ordered the series in 2019 as a spin-off project from Villeneuve's films. Various creative figures joined by 2019, and following creative overhauls, Schapker became the show-runner with Anna Foerster as director for multiple episodes by June 2023. Meanwhile, casting took place from November 2022 to June 2023. Principal photography began in November 2022 in Budapest and Jordan, and wrapped in December 2023.

Dune: Prophecy premiered on HBO on November 17, 2024 to mostly positive reviews. The series was renewed for a second season in December 2024.[1][2]

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Plot

Set 10,000 years before the events of Dune, Dune: Prophecy commences 80 years after an alliance of humans defeated the thinking machine armies that had nearly exterminated them. Sisters Valya and Tula Harkonnen struggle to maintain the power and influence of the Sisterhood, and combat forces that threaten the future of humanity.

The story sheds light on the origins of the Sisterhood (later known as Bene Gesserit), their rise to power and influence in the Imperium, as well as their personal struggles, conflicts, and battle against a prophesied enemy, while at the same time delving into key historical aspects of the Dune universe, such as the roots of the Harkonnen and Atreides families.

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Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

  • Barbara Marten as Sister Avila, an aide to Valya and Tula
    • Sarah Oliver-Watts as Young Avila, one of Dorotea's followers
  • Camilla Beeput as Reverend Mother Dorotea, a pious Reverend Mother and Raquella's granddaughter[6]

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Episodes

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Production

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Development

In November 2016, Legendary Entertainment had acquired the film and television rights for the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert from his estate.[24][25] Legendary eventually contacted Denis Villeneuve to direct a two-part film adaptation of the novel by the next month, and was confirmed as director by February 2017.[26][27] Legendary Television announced a full series order of Dune: The Sisterhood in June 2019, produced for WarnerMedia's then-streaming service HBO Max.[28][29][30] The series would focus on the Bene Gesserit order and serve as a prequel to Villeneuve's 2021 film Dune,[31] based on material from Dune and the 2012 prequel novel Sisterhood of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.[17] Villeneuve was set to direct and produce the series' pilot with Jon Spaihts writing the screenplay. Both would serve as executive producers alongside Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson, and Herbert's son, Brian.[32][33] Villeneuve said, "The Bene Gesserit have always been fascinating to me. Focusing a series around that powerful order of women seemed not only relevant and inspiring but a dynamic setting for the television series."[34]

Shortly after its announcement, the project received criticism for its lack of female creatives except for Herbert's granddaughter, Kim Herbert.[35][36] Dana Calvo was hired in July 2019 to serve as showrunner alongside Spaihts.[37][38] In November 2019, Spaihts left the series to focus on Dune: Part Two (2024).[39][40] The Hollywood Reporter reported that Legendary Television was "not happy" with Spaihts's early work as showrunner and opted to remove him.[39] Diane Ademu-John had been hired as the new showrunner by July 2021.[41][42] As production of Dune: Part Two progressed, Villeneuve was no longer able to direct and was replaced by Johan Renck as director for the first two episodes in April 2022.[43] Shortly after production began, Diane Ademu-John had exited the project as co-showrunner but remained the executive producer; this left Alison Schapker as the sole showrunner.[44] In February 2023, Renck also exited the project, resulting in the project being on hiatus.[5] He was replaced that June by Anna Foerster, who would direct multiple episodes, including the pilot.[45] In November 2023, the series was retitled Dune: Prophecy and set to release on Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming service, Max.[46][47] In November 2024, Schapker explained that the series would explore multiple time periods, with the characters' pasts adapted from the Great Schools of Dune novel trilogy, and the present timeline original to the television series.[48] In December 2024, HBO renewed the series for a second season.[1]

Casting

In October 2022, Emily Watson, Shirley Henderson, Indira Varma, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Faoileann Cunningham, Aoife Hinds, and Chloe Lea were cast to star in the series.[3][8][9] Travis Fimmel joined the cast the following month.[7][49] On December 1, 2022, Mark Strong, Jade Anouka, and Chris Mason joined the cast in starring roles.[10] Josh Heuston and Edward Davis would join in recurring roles later that month.[11] During Renck's exit in February 2023, Henderson had also left.[45] In June, Olivia Williams was cast to replace Henderson, with Jodhi May cast to replace Varma, who exited the series due to scheduling conflicts.[5] In May 2024, it was announced that Tabu had joined the cast of the series as Sister Francesca,[14] Jihae was cast as Reverend Mother Kasha, the Emperor's Truthsayer,[12] and Jessica Barden was cast as the younger version of Valya.[4] The younger versions of Tula, Francesca and Kasha are portrayed by Emma Canning, Charithra Chandran and Yerin Ha, respectively.[6] Mark Addy plays Evgeny Harkonnen, Valya and Tula's uncle.[13]

Filming

The series was originally scheduled to start filming on November 2, 2020, in Budapest and Jordan.[50] It began production on November 22, 2022, under the working title Dune: The Sisterhood, with Renck confirming the start on his Instagram account.[51][52] In July 2023, Deadline Hollywood reported that, following a winter hiatus, production was set to resume in Budapest amidst the WGA and SAG strikes due to the series' talent working under the UK-based union Equity.[53] Filming had concluded by December 2023, with Pierre Gill having served as lead cinematographer. Gill did not use the StageCraft virtual production technology, which he had previously utilized in the television series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, as the production primarily relied on practical sets and production values.[54]

Music

Jónsi was originally hired to compose the show's score.[55] However, by October 2023, Volker Bertelmann was set to compose the score for the series.[56]

Marketing

Max released a teaser trailer for the series on May 15, 2024.[57] A second teaser was released on July 18, 2024.[58] On October 17, 2024, the official trailer was unveiled during a panel at New York Comic Con.[59]

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Release

Originally to premiere on the streaming service Max, Dune: Prophecy was rebranded as an HBO Original in July 2024 and was released on Max and HBO on November 17, 2024.[46][60][59]

Reception

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The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 70% approval rating with an average rating of 6.4/10, based on 91 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Grounded by reliably terrific performances from Emily Watson and Olivia Williams, Dune: Prophecy lacks the spice of Denis Villeneuve's films but compensates with addictively perilous palace intrigue."[61] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[62]

The premiere of Dune: Prophecy drew 1.2 million U.S. viewers across platforms, with the audience growing another 75% the following day, bringing the total to 2.1 million viewers.[63]

As of December 19, 2024, the number of viewers surpassed 10 million, when "according to HBO, the premiere episode of the series raked in about 15 million viewers across Max's covered territories".[64]

Awards and nominations

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References

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