Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros. seem to be hedging some bets on the upcoming reimagining of the Frank Herbert sci-fi classic, Dune by ordering a streaming service TV series spinoff on WarnerMedia.
Interestingly however they haven’t reached far for directors, bringing Denis Villenueve (the helmer of the upcoming film) to summon Dune: The Sisterhood to into existence.
The all-female Bene Gesserit society within the universe of Dune is a complex and hierarchical one, mostly introduced as shadowy advisers and mystical kingmakers within the royal households, but it’s sure that there is even more at play which will make solid dramatic fodder for the proposed show.
Villeneuve adds via press statement:
“The Bene Gesserit have always been fascinating to me. Focusing a series around that powerful order of women seemed not only relevant and inspiring but a dynamic setting for the television series.”
Villeneuve, who also is a co-writer on the upcoming Dune movie alongside Jon Spaihts will executive produce with Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt and Kim Herbert for the Frank Herbert estate. Kevin J Anderson will co-produce according to Deadline.
There may be some method to this all-eggs-in-one-basket strategy; if Villeneuve has a specific enough vision in his film, having him translate it into a TV series no only ensures something of a visual consistency, but will no doubt be a goodly draw-card to lure people onto the streaming service to see more of the world they are creating.
It’s a sharp sidestep from some of Warner’s previous property management techniques which some believe may be responsible for lukewarm entries into the DC universe of films; speculation being what it is, it’s impossible to know for sure but what is known is that Warner Bros. needs some wins and fast if they want to stay competitive with their primary opposition over at Disney.
This said, even though the hype over Dune is very real and judging by Villeneuve’s previous efforts, extremely well placed, the movie is still five months from release and production shots and news are not yet circulating the way that perhaps Star Wars might.
Okay, we did get this Instagram shot of Josh Brolin getting fighting fit to play Gurney Halleck.
That is not a gripe, merely an observation; my point being that we really don’t know exactly what we’re in for. Will it be like the painstaking adaptation of Ridley Scott’s work in Blade Runner 2049, pushing the boundaries enough to make it Villeneuve’s own or will this be from-the-sand-up rebuilding, not touching Lynch’s vision, bringing something wholly new into the world?
Legendary’s comprehensive plans for Dune also include video games, digital content packages and comic book series. Not music though, as far as we are aware.
What do you guys think? Is the full multimedia experience for Dune something that you’d be interested in getting onboard with? Let us know your thoughts about Arrakis, Villeneuve and The Sisterhood the comments section below!