Dune series: The Sisterhood (HBO Max) loses its director and its actress

HBO in the middle of quicksand… The long-awaited series Dune: The Sisterhoodadapted from the work of Frank Herbert and derived from the blockbusters of Denis Villeneuve, has just experienced a new hitch with the departure of director Johan Renck and one of his main actresses, Shirley Henderson.

Panic in Arrakis

While its production, which began last November, is in full swing, the future HBO series has announced the departure of Johan Renck (Chernobyl), who was to direct the first two episodes of the program. HBO is currently looking for its replacement, while production is on hiatus. And that’s not all, since actress Shirley Henderson (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Okja), who was to play Tula Harkonnen, one of the main roles of the show, also left the series.

“While Dune: The Sisterhood has entered a pre-scheduled hiatus, creative changes are being made to production in an effort to create the best series possible and stay true to the source material.”said a spokesperson for HBO Max to our colleagues at Deadline. “Johan Renck has finished his work on the series and a new director will be hired; by mutual agreement, Johan is pursuing other projects. In addition, Shirley Henderson will leave the series and will no longer play Tula Harkonnen”.

Unfortunately for Dune: The Sisterhood, these are not the first starts of the project. Series creator Diane Ademu-John (The Haunting of Bly Manor), who wrote the pilot episode, also left the adventure last year, as did John Spaihts on the screenplay and Denis Villeneuve on production. The departure of Johan Renck would be explained by an incompatibility between his too “author” vision, and that of HBO and Denis Villeneuve.

A prequel series of Dunes

Dune: The Sisterhood is one of HBO Max’s most promising series. Based on the original books by Frank Herbert and set 10,000 years before the events of Denis Villeneuve’s films, the series follows the Harkonnen sisters as they battle forces that threaten the future of humanity and establish the legendary sect later known as Bene Gesserit. A prequel meant to shed light on the origins of the political world of Dunesin the spirit of House of the Dragon somehow.

In the light of this new information, several stories can be heard about the state of the project, currently in production in Budapest. Rumors indicate that the team will be ready to shoot in March. Other sources say the channel is preparing to push back production for seven months, to let designer Alison Schapker (Lost, Westworld) the time to reorganize its teams, and replace Shirley Henderson.

Announced in 2019 on the HBO Max streaming platform, Dune: The Sisterhood can always count on an ambitious production and a talented cast, notably with Emily Watson (Valya Harkonnen), Mark Strong (Emperor Javicco Corrino), Indira Varma (Empress Natalya) or even Travis Fimmel (Desmond Hart). If the series manages to settle its production problems, it should arrive on HBO Max in the United States, and potentially be part of Amazon Prime Video’s Warner Pass in France. To be continued.