Prequels. We just can’t get enough of them. The Rings of Power and House of the Dragon have been two of the year’s most talked about TV shows, and studios want more of that prequel-y goodness. And HBO Max, at least, is gonna get it with Dune: The Sisterhood, which will take place a breezy 10,000 years before the birth of Paul Atreides and the events of Dune. Emily Watson (Punch Drunk Love) and Shirley Henderson (Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter movies) are set to star.
The show will be based on a book co-written by Brian Herbert, son of Frank L. Herbert, the author of the original series. Dune-heads know that the younger Herbert’s books aren’t exactly as well-loved as the flagship series, but a tale about two sisters who “have risen to power in the Sisterhood, a secret organization of women who will go on to become the Bene Gesserit” doesn’t sound that bad. And given the resounding success of the latest Dune movie, there’s reason to be optimistic here. HBO Max has quietly been putting up some of the best numbers of any streamer out there, corporate tinkering notwithstanding.
Dune remains one of the better explorations of religion, politics, power and money, and how the various engines of society can twist and bend each other into tools for exploitation and instruments of our own self-destruction. There’s plenty of meat on those bones for a series to unpack. This could be one to keep an eye on.
