Dune: The Sisterhood is having trouble learning to walk without rhythm

The HBO Max tie-in show has lost a director and one of its stars

By Sam Barsanti  |  March 1, 2023 | 3:00am
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Dune: The Sisterhood is having trouble learning to walk without rhythm
Shirley Henderson Photo: Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for BFI

This may be hard to believe—we’re having some trouble with it ourselves over here—but HBO Max seems like it’s in a perpetual state of complete collapse, like if the “This Is Fine” dog was producing television shows while their house burned down. Not only is there all of that Warner Bros. Discovery nonsense going on in general, like with that big South Park lawsuit (which they would argue is not their fault) and the company apparently bleeding money, but there is also so goddamn much specific HBO Max nonsense going on at all times as well. Show are getting canceled left and right, and the dreaded Discovery+ merger is apparently no longer happening, and now high-profile original series Dune: The Sisterhood is apparently in disarray.

According to Deadline, the Dune tie-in is “undergoing a creative shift” that involves losing director Johan Renck (an executive producer on Chernobyl who was set to direct the first two episodes) and star Shirley Henderson, who would’ve played Tula Harkonnen (a distant ancestor of the bad guy in regular Dune). That’s all in addition to a ton of behind-the-scenes shuffles that happened before this, including losing several showrunners and having Dune movie director Denis Villeneuve scaling back his involvement in the show so he could focus on the movies.

Of course, HBO Max gave a statement to Deadline that suggests this is all going according to plan, or at least that it’s not as dramatic as losing one of the two main leads and a director would have you think:

As Dune: The Sisterhood (wt) has entered a pre-scheduled hiatus, there are some creative changes being made to the production in an effort to create the best series possible and stay true to the source material. Johan Renck has completed his work on the series and a new director will be brought on; through mutual agreement, Johan is moving on to pursue other projects. Additionally, Shirley Henderson will be exiting the series and will no longer be playing Tula Harkonnen.

Deadline’s sources say that Renck was bringing an “auteur approach” to the material that HBO Max didn’t like, since it marked a “departure from the look” of Villeneuve’s movies. The writers and current showrunner Alison Schapker are apparently also now doing “major rewrites on the fly” to make changes before production is supposed to start.

The series, assuming it doesn’t get its plug pulled by the higher-ups at Warner Bros. Discovery (which has happened to a few shows now), will be set thousands of years before the events of Dune and focus on the early days of the Bene Gesserit—who may or may not have foreseen that young Paul Atreides will grow up to be the space-messiah. As far as we know, the other main lead will still be played by Emily Watson.

 
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