Max's Dune TV Series Gets An Official Title & Premiere Window
For many decades, author Frank Herbert's "Dune" was viewed by sci-fi fans as an impossible novel for any filmmaker to adapt. The conversation surrounding the property changed following the 2021 release of director Denis Villeneuve's "Dune," though. The film, which adapts roughly half of Herbert's original novel, is one of the most acclaimed sci-fi blockbusters of recent memory. As a result, "Dune" has become one of Hollywood's hottest potential franchises.
Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures don't intend to let the current hype surrounding it pass them by, either. In addition to Villeneuve's planned sequel, "Dune: Part Two," the studios are currently developing a spin-off TV series. The project has long been known as "Dune: The Sisterhood." However, a pair of updates have not only revealed the show's new title but also its potential premiere window. IGN, for starters, reports that the series has officially been renamed "Dune: Prophecy." Meanwhile, Casey Bloys, the Chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, announced that the spin-off show is expected to premiere on Max sometime in the fall of 2024.
The two announcements, notably, come several months after multiple members of the series' initial cast and creative team were replaced. Despite the issues caused by those changes, it was reported earlier this year that "Dune: Prophecy" was still able to film in Budapest even amidst the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes because its core actors aren't members of either of those unions, which explains why its premiere window isn't as far away as some fans might have expected.
Dune: Prophecy will take fans back in time
"Dune: Prophecy" will reportedly take place around 10,000 years before the events of the "Dune" movies and Frank Herbert's original novel. It is expected to follow two sisters, Valya (Emily Watson) and Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams), as they form the powerful faction known as the Bene Gesserit. By the time "Dune" begins, the organization, a sisterhood comprised of members with various superhuman abilities, has already risen to become a major political and religious force within the sci-fi series' fictional world.
As fans will attest, the group's importance to the overall "Dune" story cannot be overstated. The fact that "Dune: Prophecy" will explore the Bene Gesserit's origins should, therefore, make it a must-see TV series for longtime fans of the franchise. While the show did undergo several behind-the-scenes changes earlier this year as well, including the departures of "Chernobyl" director Johan Renck and its initial star, Shirley Henderson, its projected 2024 debut suggests that things are progressing smoothly.
The series' premiere window also confirms 2024's status as one of the biggest years for "Dune" fans. After all, not only is "Dune: Prophecy" set to premiere next year, but the "Dune: Part Two" release date was also pushed to March 15, 2024. The future is, in other words, looking very bright for both "Dune" fans and the studios that control the franchise, which seems primed right now to become an even more popular piece of intellectual property moving forward.