Posted in: HBO, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: Diane Ademu-John, dune, hbo max, prequel, preview

Dune: The Sisterhood: HBO Max Taps Diane Ademu-John as Showrunner

Would you seriously think less of us if we told you that with all of the talk surrounding Denis Villeneuve's upcoming Dune feature film that we forgot there was a sequel series in play from HBO Max? First announced with a straight-to-series order in June 2019, Variety is reporting exclusively that Diane Ademu-John (Empire, The Haunting of Bly Manor) has joined Dune: The Sisterhood as writer, showrunner, and executive producer. Jon Spaihts was originally set to run point on the series but stepped away from the project in November 2019 to focus on the film adaptations.

Frank 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. The prequel series 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," said Villeneuve when the project was first announced back in 2019.

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.

Bleeding Cool TV on Instagram: For all of the stuff too random and bizarre to make the site, make sure to follow us on Instagram (with an official launch on June 19): Bleeding Cool TV (@bleedingcooltv).

BCTV Daily Dispatch: For a look at what's going on across the television and streaming landscape, sign up for Bleeding Cool's daily email round-up of the news you need to know here.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!