The first trailer for ‘Dune: Prophecy’ has arrived – here’s everything we know about the prequel

The world of Dune is endlessly vast, spanning countless galaxies and colonies. It’s so large, in fact, that the first movie couldn’t even cover half of the source material in the original book. Now, after Dune: Part Two exceeded audience expectations, taking pop culture by storm, the universe is expanding even further: Dune is officially entering its prequel era. Titled Dune: Prophecy, the upcoming series is produced by Max and set 10,000 years before the events of Dune. So, sadly, you won’t be seeing Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalomet) or Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler). 

Now, just months after the release of Dune: Part Two, the first teaser for the upcoming series has arrived. In the trailer, we get a glimpse of the origins of the Bene Gesserit – seen prominently throughout Dune, the Bene Gesserit act as matriarchs of the galaxy, shaping history with political marriages and their superhuman abilities. The preview looks just as visually impressive as Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic and seemingly teases multiple worlds for the next adventure. 

So, as you wait to fill that Dune shaped hole in your life, here’s everything we know about the upcoming Dune: Prophecy…

Dune: The Sisterhood is now Dune: Prophecy 

Back in 2019, even before the first Dune premiered, Warner Media gave a straight-to-series order for Dune: The Sisterhood. And while it’s unclear why exactly the series was renamed, the premise has remained the same. Back when the series was first announced, the prequel also pitched a focus on the Bene Gesserit’s order of nuns, spies and scientists whose powers include mind control and collective memory among other supernatural talents. 

Dune: The Sisterhood was set to adapt Herbert’s spin-off novel Sisterhood of Dune, which features Valya Harkonnen as one of the organisation’s first Reverend Mothers. Meanwhile, one of the major plot points of the novel is that her sister, Tula, is destined to murder her Atreidis groom on their wedding night. 

“The Bene Gesserit have always been fascinating to me,” Villeneuve said in an interview with Variety. “Focusing a series around that powerful order of women seemed not only relevant and inspiring but a dynamic setting for the television series.”

Who stars in Dune: Prophecy? 

Emily Watson and Olivia Williams will play the founders of the Bene Gesserit, Valya and Tula, respectively. The two will be joined by Jodhi May as Empress Natalya, Sarah-Sophie Boussnina as Princess Ynez, Shalom Brune-Franklin as the Fremen Mikaela, Mark Strong as Emperor Javicco Corrino and Indian actress Tabu as Sister Francesca.

Will Villeneuve be back in the director’s chair?

It was announced back when Dune debuted in October 2021 that Villeneuve was set to direct the pilot for the series, and John Spaiths, his co-writer on the Dune script, was set to write. The pair were also set to executive produce the series alongside the late Frank Herbert’s children, Brian Herbert and Kim Herbert. However, as the show has developed there have been a number of shakeups at the top. In a recent interview, Spaihts revealed he was no longer contributing to the production. 

​​“That is carrying on and I’m not allowed to talk about it very much. But that effort is alive and well,” he told The Digital Fix. “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.”

Villeneuve is no longer attached to the project, and was originally replaced by Johan Renck (Spaceman), before he also departed the project. Meanwhile, Spaith’s replacement, who most recently worked as an executive producer and writer on Netflix’s The Haunting of Bly Manor, was also replaced. Amidst the chaos, veteran producer Allison Schapker came aboard as the sole showrunner, before being joined by Anna Forester (Westworld) to direct. 

When will the series premiere? 

At the time of writing, there’s no official release date confirmed for the series. However, the teaser trailer did confirm Dune: The Prophecy will be releasing “this fall”. Thankfully, the series is part of Legendary Entertainment’s “larger plan for Dune, which also includes video games, digital-content packages, and comic-book series,” according to The Hollywood Reporter, so expect plenty more Dune content in the coming years. The Duneiverse is growing, and we’re in for a bright future.