Simply while you thought the world of “Dune” could not probably get any greater or extra epic, HBO has determined to carry the sci-fi franchise to the small display with “Dune: Prophecy” — not with one other sequel, however by a prequel sequence set in the identical continuity as director Denis Villeneuve’s two motion pictures. Set 10 thousand years earlier than Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides grew to become the “hero” of Arrakis and took on the may of the complete Imperium, the spinoff will as an alternative concentrate on the sect of all-knowing house witches known as the Bene Gesserit. Their main operate, you will recall, has been the manipulation of genetic household bushes in a endless quest to supply the Kwisatz Haderach, the chosen one figurehead prophesied in eons previous to characterize the following step of human evolution. (That is the CliffsNotes model, at the least. Readers know that “Dune” creator Frank Herbert was by no means one to simplify his personal world-building.)
With all kinds of time and house to inform a brand new story, viewers can stay up for a contemporary and sudden tackle the universe that is nothing like what we have seen earlier than … with one key exception. As a lot as issues could also be totally different, “Dune: Prophecy” will nonetheless immediately join with the big-budget blockbusters that audiences worldwide have come to embrace. That was a serious level of emphasis by the artistic staff throughout a current press occasion attended by /Movie. The satan can be within the particulars, apparently, courtesy of a sure piece of sci-fi tech that followers ought to have the ability to immediately acknowledge.
Dune: Prophecy will embody ‘Holtzman’ know-how from the films
How do you inform a brand-new story in a franchise counting on well-known film stars and acquainted iconography, all whereas nonetheless offering sufficient connective tissue with what got here earlier than? Whereas talking at a press occasion with /Movie in attendance, “Dune: Prophecy” government producer Jordan Goldberg described the brand new story as a “interval piece sooner or later” (a reference to the prequel setting going down lengthy earlier than the films, but far sooner or later past our current day). That stated, it’s going to nonetheless bear some recognizable hallmarks for followers of the “Dune” motion pictures. A lot of it comes right down to a distinct segment little bit of lore often called “Holtzman” tech, named after the in-universe physicist whose scientific breakthrough paved the best way for the flowery protect know-how, gravity suspensors (just like the one utilized by the villainous Baron Harkonnen), and faster-than-light spaceship engines glimpsed all through the movies. Based on Goldberg:
“For us, while you take one thing just like the Holtzman know-how, the Holtzman shields and stuff like that, I feel it is enjoyable to play with that as a result of it’s a actually cool machine within the movies and within the books. And so it is cool to have that in our world. And what we did with it was lengthen it to different issues. Our hover crafts are Holtzman-generated. Now we have a jail the place persons are levitated with Holtzman belts. We have wheelchairs which might be Holtzman-levitated, as properly. So it is simply enjoyable to take a number of the staples by way of know-how and simply lengthen it and attempt to present the way it’s type of unfold out by our universe.”
Based mostly on the 2012 novel “Sisterhood of Dune,” written by Frank Herbert’s son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, “Dune: Prophecy” is clearly staying devoted to the world as imagined by Herbert and tailored by Villeneuve. However the problem of mixing these kinds with one other distinctive method was one thing that showrunner Alison Schapker made certain to provide loads of cautious consideration.
Dune: Prophecy will go to planets by no means seen within the motion pictures
HBO not too long ago had to determine learn how to increase the world of “Recreation of Thrones” with the prequel sequence “Home of the Dragon,” whereas rival Prime Video confronted the same (and arguably extra sophisticated) situation when it got here to defining the appear and feel of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy” in comparison with the world-famous Peter Jackson motion pictures. Now, it is “Dune: Prophecy” that finds itself navigating the identical waters. The Denis Villeneuve “Dune” movies made an instantaneous impression on the energy of their visuals alone (with a vital help from cinematographer Greig Fraser, who additionally was behind the digicam on “The Batman”), elevating a really excessive bar for the prequel sequence to match. To listen to Alison Schapker inform it, it was all about following within the footsteps of the 2 current motion pictures … to a sure extent:
“We have been undoubtedly influenced by, clearly, the movies and Denis Villeneuve’s universe that he arrange. I feel he actually unlocked ‘Dune’ for individuals and preserving it an unbelievable spectacle, but in addition actually feeling grounded within the characters. Sure, we do view ourselves as 10,000 years earlier, however chatting with these movies from a distance.”
That applies each metaphorically and actually, because it seems, as a result of “Dune: Prophecy” will keep away from the temptation of turning the desert world of Arrakis into their very own model of Tatooine — the planet that just about each “Star Wars” story appears compelled to return. Schapker went on to elucidate:
“I feel that, although, one of many ways in which actually helped us distinguish ourselves is that we’re probably not set on Arrakis. Whereas Arrakis exerts a pull within the Imperium, prefer it does in any ‘Dune’ story, it is at a distance. It is haunting us from afar. It is influencing occasions from afar. We have been capable of set our story on worlds that, hopefully, can be enjoyable for ‘Dune’ followers who loved the films to go to totally different planets that they have not been earlier than.”
She particularly name-dropped planets like Salusa Secundus and Lankiveil whereas teasing many extra to return, exhibiting off simply how nerdy this sequence is about to get. We’ll discover out for ourselves when “Dune: Prophecy” hits HBO and Max on Sunday, November 17, 2024.