We won’t get to feast on Denis Villeneuve’s much-anticipated cinematic take on Frank Herbert’s Dune until November 2020, but here’s some news that suggests Dune fever won’t be confined to the big screen: Villeneuve will also executive produce, co-write, and direct the pilot for a Herbert-inspired series, Dune: The Sisterhood, for WarnerMedia’s streaming service.
Here’s a description of the series, via the Hollywood Reporter, which fans of Herbert’s series will likely be excited by:
Herbert’s Dune novel examines a future in which humanity has spread across the galaxy to thousands of worlds, all ruled by the Padishah Emperor, The Imperium. Dune: The Sisterhood takes place in the same universe and explores the future through the eyes of a mysterious order of women: the Bene Gesserit. Given abilities by their mastery of the body and the mind, the Bene Gesserit expertly weave through the feudal politics and intrigue of The Imperium, pursuing plans of their own that will ultimately lead them to the enigmatic planet Arrakis — known to its inhabitants as Dune.
“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 said.
Dune: The Sisterhood counts among its executive producers representatives from the Frank Herbert estate, and along with that star-studded 2020 movie (which, if all goes according to plan, will be the first of two Dune films), the series is a signal that Legendary Entertainment is planning to push ahead with what THR calls a “larger plan for Dune, which also includes video games, digital content packages and comic book series.”
As for when we’ll actually get to see the series, that WarnerMedia streaming service (which doesn’t have an official name yet, and has already tempted us with animated Gremlins) will need to launch first, which THR reminds us should happen sometime later this year.