Posted in: HBO, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: bleeding cool, books, cable, Dana Calvo, denis villeneuve, dune, dune the sisterhood, frank herbert, HBO, hbo max, jon spaihts, novels, streaming, television, tv

"Dune: The Sisterhood": HBO Max Series Loses Jon Spaihts as Showrunner

Published Tue, 05 Nov 2019 14:55:52 -0600

by Ray Flook

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A little over three months after HBO Max's upcoming series based on author Frank Herbert's classic literary series Dune gained a second showrunner in Dana Calvo (Good Girls Revolt) comes word that the project is back to having one showrunner again. Jon Spaihts is stepping down as showrunner on Dune: The Sisterhood though he will continue executive producing the project, meant to compliment and coincide with director Denis Villeneuve's feature film adaptation from Warner Bros. Villeneuve is set to direct the pilot episode, with Spaihts now able to concentrate on writing the feature.

Herbert's Dune portrays a future in which humanity has spread across the galaxy to thousands of worlds, all ruled by the Padishah Emperor, The Imperium. Dune: The Sisterhood explores this universe through the eyes of a mysterious order of women: the Bene Gesserit. Given extraordinary abilities by their mastery of the body and the mind, the Bene Gesserit expertly weave through the feudal politics and intrigue of The Imperium, pursuing plans of their own that will ultimately lead them to the enigmatic planet Arrakis — known to its inhabitants as Dune.

"The Bene Gesserit have always been fascinating to me. Focusing a series around that powerful order of women seemed not only relevant and inspiring but a dynamic setting for the television series."

– Denis Villeneuve

Villeneuve and Spaihts executive produce alongside Frank's son Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, and Kim Herbert on behalf of the Frank Herbert estate, with Kevin J Anderson co-producing. Similar to what is currently being done with The Purge franchise, Legendary Television's multimedia plans for Dune include video games, digital content packages, and comic book series. Herbert's Dune book series consists of twenty books to date, with Herbert authoring the first six books and the remainder of the series written by Brian Herbert, along with Anderson.