The first trailer for Dune: Prophecy is finally here, giving fans a prescient glance at this long-awaited prequel. Prophecy is set about 10,000 years before the events of Dune and Dune: Part Two, and is about the formation of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood. The show premieres “this fall,” but there’s no specific release date yet.
Dune: Prophecy has been through a long and meandering production process, but the end result looks as polished as its big screen counterparts. The trailer shows us a twist on the same technology and atmosphere that defines Dune, including force field-enhanced knife fights, gargantuan space ships and the bright blue eyes induced by Spice Melange. The show stars Emily Watson and Olivia Williams as Valya and Tula Harkonnen – founding members of the Bene Gesserit.
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Warner Bros. Discovery’s press release on this trailer confirms the long-held assumption that Prophecy is based primarily on the book Sisterhood of Dune, though it says the show was “inspired by the novel,” indicating that some creative liberties might have been taken. The Dune franchise was created by Frank Herbert who wrote six novels, all following one after another on a vast timeline. When he passed away he left behind notes for at least one more sequel, and his son Brian J. Herbert continued from there. They went forward with sequels, but more often wrote prequels, going back to the time when humanity first left Earth in this universe.
Brian has collaborated with author Kevin J. Anderson to write 17 more books in the Dune franchise, and they are still going. Sisterhood of Dune was published in 2012, and is the first in a trilogy called Great School of Dune. These books are set around the time of “The Butlerian Jihad” – a defining moment in the Dune universe when humanity went to war against all artificial intelligence – or “thinking machines” – and looked to alternative powers like the supernatural abilities of the Bene Gesserit instead. This setting may seem only distantly related to the events of Dune, but die-hard fans will find it compelling regardless.
In addition to Watson and Williams, Prophecy stars Travis Fimmel, Jodhi May, Mark Strong, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Josh Heuston, Chloe Lea, Jade Anouka, Faoileann Cunningham, Edward Davis, Aoife Hinds, Chris Mason, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Jihae, Tabu, Charithra Chandran, Jessica Barden, Emma Canning and Yerin Ha. With 10,000 years between this and the film series, there will be on shared characters. However, houses like Atreides, Harkonnen and Corrino will be represented here, giving fans an easy connection to new faces.
Dune: Prophecy premieres this fall, while Sisterhood of Dune is available now in in print, digital and audiobook formats, along with the rest of the books in the franchise.
