Showrunner Alison Schapker on Dune: Prophecy

From Frank Herbert’s expansive Dune universe, Dune: Prophecy is set 10 000 years before the ascension of Paul Atreides, following two Harkonnen sisters as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind and establish the fabled sect that will become known as the Bene Gesserit.

The series is co-produced by HBO and Legendary Television, with Legendary also producing the film franchise that has released two instalments to critical acclaim, with the first taking home six Oscars and second becoming the fourth biggest blockbuster of 2024. 

Inspired by the 2012 novel Sisterhood of Dune, written by Frank’s son, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J Anderson, the prequel series stars Oscar nominee Emily Watson (Chernobyl), multiple-award winner Olivia Williams (The Crown), and Critics Choice Super Award nominee Travis Fimmel (Ragnar in Vikings). Also look out for BAFTA nominee Mark Strong (Shazam!, 1917) and Cannes winner Jodhi May (The Witcher)) as the Emperor and Empress.  

As Mashable writes, “Truly, this is the closest TV has gotten to the idea of Game of Thrones… in space!” 

With new episodes being released on M-Net at 9pm and Showmax at 9:30pm every Monday until 23 December 2024, we caught up with showrunner Alison Schapker, a Writers Guild of America nominee for Lost, to find out more. 

Watch the trailer for Dune: Prophecy

What drew you into the Dune universe?  

I’ve always been a fan of Dune. I have a very strong memory of reading it as a teenager. It blew my mind. I then went into a career where I did a lot of science fiction and genre writing so when this opportunity to turn it into a television series arose it was a no-brainer.

Good genre to me is always based on characters that you relate to and a story that you can sink your teeth into. On top of that, you get to have the spectacle of world-building, or the wish fulfilment of powers. 

What’s very interesting about the Sisterhood and about the sisters on our show, who go on to found the sect of the Bene Gesserit, is that they appear to have superpowers but, actually, we’re talking 10 000 years from now and human evolution has continued. These are women pushing the boundaries of what the human brain and body can do.

The sisters teach total control over mind and body on a cellular level, so they can actually, for example, ingest a poison, and just by manipulating their body chemistry, they create an antidote within their own cells. That kind of control is incredibly empowering. They can choose the sex of their own child in the womb. It’s a notion of bodily autonomy that is quite powerful.

What did you draw on for inspiration? 

Our project is rooted in the Sisterhood of Dune novel, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson, and the Great Schools of Dune trilogy. A lot of our characters and world-building come out of those novels and then we also tried to create a part of our story, which gave us room to do adaptation in conjunction with the Herbert estate that allowed us to create a narrative that was really suited for television.

Tell us about the settings for the series. 

We very much wanted to go to different corners of the Dune universe. Arrakis will always be a planet that exerts enormous pull because of the dependence of our universe on spice, which is only found on Arrakis. We are not locating our story there in Season 1, and we are more feeling the pull of Arrakis from afar. We’re exploring Salusa Secundus, which is our Imperial home planet, and Wallach IX, where the Sisterhood has its school and its institution. And we’re going to Lankiveil, which is the Harkonnens’ home planet, which is an icy planet. 

The pleasure of watching television is being transported somewhere new, so it’s fun to explore this huge universe. 

What were the priorities for you in terms of casting?

Well, it all started with Emily Watson coming in as Valya Harkonnen, which was an incredible dream come true for all of us, because she is just such an astounding actress and a true legend in the field. She and Olivia Williams are so magical on screen. 

Casting, for me, is a very intuitive thing. You have to look for a synergy between the actor and the role. Everyone, from the people who are very early in their career to the most veteran actors we have, brings a specificity to their character, which is important in such a detailed saga like Dune. I feel so lucky to have the ensemble that we have; they are outstanding,

It is such a deeply loved, large, complex story, being released in a time when shows are made with second screens in mind to be easily digestible while also on a phone. Is it a challenge to make such layered narratives?

We were trying to thread a needle where we could have people enjoy it on multiple levels, so that, if you were new to Dune, these characters would be a great way into the world, and you could go for the ride, and you wouldn’t feel lost or confused. At the same time, we wanted people who knew Dune and have a wealth of knowledge to enjoy the narrative fully. So it was a bit of a tightrope. 

We didn’t dumb it down. There’s a lot of machinations happening behind the scenes, and it’s going to take time to really start to understand who people are and what they are really up to. We hope to do so in a way that doesn’t alienate anybody.

Are there moral codes or allegories that you want people to take away from this? 

One of the great things about science fiction is it forces you to think about your future. Dune questions power and the lengths people will go to. It also questions the stories that we’re told as a culture: what is truth and what is lies? Be wary of your leaders and question where people are coming from. Think of the roles of things like technology. Today we’re rushing headlong into new AI technology that’s going to revolutionise the world yet again in good ways and in bad ways. 

Catch new episodes of Dune: Prophecy on M-Net at 9pm and Showmax at 9:30pm every Monday until 23 December 2024. 

You can also binge Dune: Part 2, the fourth biggest box office hit of 2024 globally, on Showmax from New Year’s Day, 1 January 2025. One of IMDb’s Top 50 highest rated movies of all time, Dune: Part Two is nominated for Best Motion Picture: Drama at the 2025 Golden Globes, among other accolades.