‘Dune: The Sisterhood’ Halts Production Amid Creative Overhaul Following Exit From Director and Lead Actress
A new blockbuster report by Deadline has unearthed massive behind-the-scenes disagreements between the people making the upcoming HBO Max series Dune: The Sisterhood.
Things were looking well for Arrakis this year. Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two is currently scheduled to hit theaters this November, and with the prequel series The Sisterhood starting production in November, we could have been looking at a one-two punch of Frank Herbert content. That is no longer the case, though, as the studio has paused production on the series after the director of the first two episodes, Johan Renck, and one of its lead actresses, Shirley Henderson, exited the series over creative differences.
Things were already not looking good for the series when co-showrunner Diane Ademu-John, who had also written the pilot script, exited the project right before cameras started rolling in Budapest. According to the trade, this had put extra pressure on the other half of the showrunning team, Alison Schapker, to deliver significant rewrites in time. Renck’s more auteur vision for the series was apparently quite different from what the studio had in mind, which aligned with Denis Villeneuve’s aesthetic. He had already completed his work on the show, though it’s unknown how much of that footage will actually be seen.
The actual status of the show is currently unknown. Sources are telling Deadline that it will be a seven-month pause to rework the scripts, search for a new director, and recast Henderson’s role, while others insist that there was always supposed to be a winter break. The network, in a statement, affirmed that this is the case:
“As Dune: The Sisterhood (wt) has entered a pre-scheduled hiatus, there are some creative changes being made to the production in an effort to create the best series possible and stay true to the source material. Johan Renck has completed his work on the series and a new director will be brought on; through mutual agreement, Johan is moving on to pursue other projects. Additionally, Shirley Henderson will be exiting the series and will no longer be playing Tula Harkonnen.”
The truth will probably lie somewhere in the middle. Deadline is also told that, even though the exact reason for the actress’ exit is unclear, it will cause a ripple effect that will end up modifying other people’s schedules and cause even more exits. Meanwhile, Johan Renck has already found its next gig, as The Hollywood Reporter says he will be tackling an adaptation of the 1951 novel by John Wyndham Day of the Triffids for Amazon.
At this moment, the cast consists of Emily Watson as Valya Harkonnen, Indira Varma as Empress Natalya, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina as Princess Ynez, Shalom Brune Franklin as Mikaela, Faoileann Cunningham as Sister Jen, Aoife Hinds as Sister Emeline, Chloe Lea as Lila, Travis Fimmel as Desmond Hart, Mark Strong as Emperor Javicco Corrino, Jade Anouka as Sister Theodosia, and Chris Mason as Keiran Atreides.
We will keep you updated as more news arises.
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.
