Dune ‘Sisterhood’ Spinoff Featuring the Bene Gesserit Moving Forward, ‘Dune Messiah’ Adaptation Possible

HBO Max’s Dune: The Sisterhood, a spinoff of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, is still moving forward, despite limited updates from the platform. Jon Spaihts, who was originally tasked as showrunner but was moved off, told The Playlist, “Oh, that is carrying on and I’m not allowed to talk about it very much.”

He continued, “But that effort is alive and well. I ended up getting moved off of it to work, not just on Dune: Part Two, but to investigate other cinematic prospects in the Dune universe, which we are still talking about and which, again, I’m not allowed to say very much about. But it is a very rich world in which to play, and I think it is ripe with opportunities for storytelling in every direction. They’re well down the road, but I honestly don’t know the details of the timing.”

Diane Ademu-John has been tapped as Spaihts’ replacement.

Sisterhood is a prequel to the events of Dune and will focus on the Bene Gesserit, the political and mystical sisterhood in Frank Herbert’s Dune series. The Bene Gesserit have been involved in genetic modification in order to not just strengthen their political power, but also to create Kwisatz Haderach, a superhuman being that would have access to the male and female Memory powers.

Unfortunately, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) deviated from this plan when she gave her partner, Duke Leto, a son rather than the daughter that was to be the mother of the Kwisatz Haderach. Now, Paul, one generation early, has inherited these powers and, with them, a dark path to tread.

Spaihts spoke of “other cinematic prospects in the Dune universe,” and we have yet to learn what those will be. We do know, from a recent Collider interview, that it is possible he might adapt the second book in the Dune series: Dune Messiah.

“Now I could envision a third movie and to make the adaptation of Dune Messiah that will complete Paul Atreides’s story that I think would make sense,” Villeneuve told Collider. “But each movie, those movies are monsters, and I can only do one at a time. If I survive Dune: Part Two, then I might do the Messiah.”

I do hope he does because, at least to me, if you don’t do the first three books, you haven’t really told the most important parts of the story Herbert set out. If Villeneuve himself doesn’t do it, I hope that someone connected with him will. It is a great story, and right now, people have embraced a Dune universe, and I want to see where it goes.

(via CBR, image: Warner Bros.)