The upcoming HBO Max series Dune: The Sisterhood has found its leads in the form of actresses Shirley Henderson and Emily Watson, who will portray siblings on the HBO Max and Legendary Television-produced project.
Set in the Dune universe based on the works of science fiction author Frank Herbert, Dune: The Sisterhood takes place some 10,000 years before the events of the well-received 2021 Dune film adaptation of the same literary material, which chronicled the trials of the noble House Atreides as it is thrust into war and bagged a whole slew of Oscar nominations. Dune: The Sisterhood will follow the Harkonnen sisters on a quest to save humanity from existential threats and eventually leads to the formation of the titular sisterhood, more formally known as the Bene Gesserit Order.
Deadline has now confirmed that Henderson and Watson will be portraying the Harkonnen sisters in the upcoming prequel to the critically acclaimed Dune film, playing the roles of Tula and Valya Harkonnen, respectively. This makes the two talented ladies co-leads on the upcoming project, which was created and written by the multitalented Diane Ademu-John, who will also take on the roles of showrunner and executive producer alongside Alison Schapker. The two stars are no stranger to big projects, with Henderson having made appearances for projects in the Harry Potter and Star Wars franchises, and Watson has a long and lauded career in theatre projects, with some notable film appearances in the likes of Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
After surviving the myriad content cuts that took place at HBO Max, Dune: The Sisterhood is also set to be executive produced by a wide range of capable hands, including Dune co-writer, director and producer Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, Scott Z. Burns, Matthew King, John Cameron and Cait Collins. Authors Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson will serve as executive and co-producer, respectively, to ensure that the grand literary narrative style of the source material translates well to the medium. Byron Merritt and Kim Herbert will be representing the original author’s estate in executive roles to much the same effect as well.
The success of 2021’s Dune has spurned Legendary Television and HBO Max on to create new and greater things, and deservedly so. The Dune property has tried and stumbled in the past to be adapted successfully to film, with cancelations and commercial failures souring all involved in the process of adapting it. This led to the director of the original 1984 film adaptation, David Lynch, declaring that he had no interest in the new Dune film and allowed Villeneuve to bring his own original spin to it unhindered by past works, which was likely for the best. Now, new and exciting projects like Dune: The Sisterhood can use Villeneuve's work as a launching point to give fans exactly the sort of expansive and wondrous science fiction storytelling that is so widely sought after.
While many fans are excited at the prospect of more stories set in the Dune universe, some are less enthusiastic about where the upcoming series fits in with the success of the first Dune film in light of a direct sequel to the film being in the works and having already started production and released set photos in June of 2022. It remains to be seen if the Harkonnen sisters will be able to capture the viewing audience in the same way that the Dune film did.
Dune: The Sisterhood does not yet have an official release date.
Source: Deadline