As production on the sci-fi epic “Dune: Part Two” is set to begin this summer with Denis Villeneuve returning as director, the spinoff series “Dune: The Sisterhood” has landed a high-profile television director as Villeneuve will instead focus his attention on the sequel.
Variety reports that Johan Renck has been tapped to direct the show’s first two episodes, replacing Villeneuve.
Renck previously won a Directing Emmy for his work on the fantastic HBO limited series “Chernobyl” about the man-made nuclear disaster in Soviet-era Ukraine, and recently directed the network’s live-action “The Last of Us” show led by Pedro Pascal based on the smash-hit Sony-owned video games.
They also include more details on “The Sisterhood,” confirming that the HBO Max spinoff will indeed be a prequel, taking place 10,000 years in the past, and will feature how the Harkonnen family created the Bene Gesserit.
The show is set 10,000 years prior to the events of “Dune” and follows the Harkonnen Sisters as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit.
The Bene Gesserit is an all-female sect in the “Dune” universe that has long manipulated events all over the galaxy, including inserting the messiah prophecy on planet Arrakis and trying to create a super-being, the Kwisatz Haderach. The Kwisatz Haderach is something that Paul Atreides is expected to use for his own political benefit in follow-up installments. The massive religious war has already been teased in the first film via Paul’s dreams.
Diane Ademu-John is showrunning with help from Scott Z. Burns after the exit of Jon Spaihts, as the screenwriter left as showrunner to focus on the next feature film.
Given the HBO Max project’s timeline, unless things change, we’ll unlikely see actors from the Villeneuve movies appear in the streaming series.
On the film front, ‘Dune: Part Two” is said to be looking to add actors Florence Pugh (“Midsommar“) and Austin Butler (“Once Upon A Time In Hollywood“) in key roles with a release date of October 20, 2023. Villeneuve has also teased interest in adapting Frank Herbert‘s “Dune Messiah” as the third film rounding out a trilogy.