In 2021, we all got to watch Dune, director Denis Villenueve’s adaptation of (the first half of) Frank Herbert’s iconic 1965 sci-fi novel. It had sandworms, it had spice, it had big-name actors aplenty. The follow-up movie, Dune: Part 2, was supposed to come out this year, but got pushed into 2024 on account of the ongoing actors strike in Hollywood. And that probably won’t be our only visit to Arrakis next year: Warner Bros. Discovery is also working on a Dune TV series to air on the Max streaming service.
Previously, this show was known as Dune: The Sisterhood. It’s set thousands of years before Dune proper and is about the formation of the Bene Gesserit, the powerful organization of women who control things from behind the scenes and also they can use their voice to command people to act against their will. They’re basically magic space nuns.
The show will revolve around a pair of sisters: Valya and Tula Harkonnen, played by Emily Watson and Olivia Williams respectively. Travis Fimmel, Mark Strong, Jodhi May, Indira Varma and others also star. However, it came out during yesterday’s HBO press conference that the show is now called Dune: Prophecy.
Dune spinoff show Dune: Prophecy coming to Max in the fall of next year
The Dune show has gone through a number of changes during its lifecycle. There’s been some turnover in the showrunner role, and the original actor who was going to play Tula Harkonnen — Shirley Henderson — left partway through. So a change in title isn’t that surprising.
As for what the new title could mean, my first thought is of the Missionaria Protectiva, a Bene Gesserit program that involves planting myths among primitive cultures the Bene Gesserit can then use later on to their advantage. So for example, in Dune, hero Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet in the movie) is treated as a messiah by the native Fremen people of the planet Arrakis. That’s partly because the Bene Gesserit planted myths about the coming of a messiah millennia before, knowing that they could produce one and control the Fremen people if they needed. So they create a prophecy and then they fulfill it in a way that suits them.
But I’m just guessing there. In any case, Dune: Prophecy is due out on Max sometime in the fall of 2024. Meanwhile, Dune: Part 2 will drop into theaters on March 15, 2024. I hope you like sand.
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h/t IGN