‘Dune: The Sisterhood’ Taps ‘Chernobyl’s Johan Renck To Direct the First Two Episodes
Legendary has announced that Johan Renck, who directed all five episodes of HBO’s Chernobyl, will be directing the first two episodes of the upcoming HBO Max series Dune: The Sisterhood.
The project has been mostly inert for a couple of years, but this is great news, not only because of the talent recruited, but also because it means the project is alive and kicking. According to Deadline, Renck will also be executive producing. Denis Villeneuve was at one point going to direct the pilot episode of the series, but he’s rather busy with the new film and other projects he’s got lined up. Originally, Dune screenwriter Jon Spaihts was going to be writing the project, but he also left to focus on Dune: Part II, which is currently in pre-production. Diane Ademu-John (The Haunting of Bly Manor) has taken over as main writer and showrunner.
Renck was at one point also going to direct parts of the new HBO Max series The Last of Us, but had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict. All’s well that ends well, as the streamer went back to him for another of their high-profile projects, and The Last of Us will probably not be affected, as Kantemir Balágov, the Russian Cannes darling behind Beanpole, took over for him. Renck probably had to exit the project as he was preparing his new movie, Spaceman, starring Paul Dano, Carey Mulligan, and Adam Sandler.
Dune: The Sisterhood will be the first Dune spin-off developed for the platform. Part II of the movie was greenlit days after the first one opened in the US, and Villeneuve has already expressed interest in even directing an adaptation of Dune Messiah. He will already be incorporating main characters from that book into Dune: Part II, like Princess Irulan, who doesn’t have a large role in the original 1965 novel. Florence Pugh was said to be in talks to play the part.
The plot of the series will take place 10,000 years before Paul Atreides is born, following the Harkonnen Sisters “as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit.” Though no actors have been attached to the project yet, if the streamer is already meeting with directors, it’s possible the series is in better shape than we thought. In that case, pre-production could start over the next few months.
We will keep you posted on this and more Dune news as they come out.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
