Yahoo News ‘Dune: The Sisterhood’ Soon To Resume Production In Hungary Following Winter Hiatus, Will Continue Throughout Strikes
EXCLUSIVE: Max’s Dune prequel series Dune: The Sisterhood is set to relaunch production in Budapest “any day now” and will continue throughout the course of the WGA and SAG strikes, a source close to the show tells Deadline.
The series thus takes the path of House of the Dragon and Industry, given that, like those HBO titles, which we reported on earlier in the day, The Sisterhood is under contract with British Equity, with some from SAG-AFTRA also in the mix. And per guidance from the actors guild stateside, members working under Equity contracts are to “continue to report.” SAG card carriers working on Equity productions may choose to boycott but, due to tough anti-strike laws in the UK, studios would be able to sue them directly to force them back on to set.
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The Sisterhood resumes production following a November launch, leading into a hiatus that always was planned, our source tells us. The show also notably lost director Johan Renck, creator and pilot writer Diane Ademu-John (as co-showrunner) and stars Shirley Henderson and Indira Varma earlier this year, though the departures were unrelated. Olivia Williams has taken over Henderson’s role as Tula Harkonnen, with Jodhi May in for Varma as Natalya, and Anna Foerster stepping in for Renck as director of multiple episodes. The show co-produced by Max and Legendary Television now has Alison Schapker as its sole showrunner.
Set in the sci-fi universe of Frank Herbert’s Dune, which has been mined of late by filmmaker Denis Villeneuve for two Timothée Chalamet-led films (including one arriving this fall), Dune: The Sisterhood also draws on the novel Sisterhood of Dune, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. It’s set 10,000 years before the ascension of Paul Atreides and follows the Harkonnen Sisters as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, establishing the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit.
Also starring in the show are Emily Watson, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Shalom Brune Franklin, Faoileann Cunningham, Aoife Hinds, Chloe Lea, Travis Fimmel, Mark Strong, Jade Anouka and Chris Mason. Exec producers are Ademu-John, Schapker, Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, Scott Z. Burns, Matthew King, John Cameron, Mark Tobey and Jordan Goldberg, as well as Brian Herbert and with Byron Merritt and Kim Herbert on behalf of the Frank Herbert estate. Kevin J. Anderson is serving as co-producer.
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