HBO Max’s ‘Dune’ spin-off series loses director and star

The HBO Dune spin-off series is undergoing some major changes as it loses both its director and one of its stars. Dune: The Sisterhood is a prequel to the movies and is currently undergoing a creative shift that has resulted in the loss of cast and crew.

Johan Renck, who served as an executive producer on Chernobyl, was set to direct the first two episodes but has since stepped down from the role, putting production on hold while it searches for his replacement. On top of this, actress Shirley Henderson has also backed away from the project, and her role as Tula Harkonnen will need to be recast.

This comes after the series already lost one of its creators just before filming began back in November, as Diane Ademu-John, who wrote the pilot script, left as co-showrunner, leaving the role in the hands of Alison Schapker, TV writer-producer. Ademu-John still remains an executive producer. With such changes being made at the very last minute, and production already set to start in Budapest, Schapker is now under a huge amount of pressure to find replacements for these roles.

Apparently, Renck’s exit was down to the fact that his vision for the show deviated away from director Denis Villeneuve’s films, which is not what the streaming service had in mind for the series. According to Deadline, there was some footage shot but it is unknown if it will make its way into the final cut.

Speaking to Deadline, an HBO spokesperson responded to the changes by saying,

“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.”

The director has since deleted any social media relating to the series going all the way back to his Nov. 22 post made at the start of production. There are conflicting stories on why the director left, with some saying that production always planned on stopping filming over the winter period, whereas others say it was halted to give Schapker and her team time to find a new director.

Due to this hiatus, actors are apparently now struggling to make their schedules work which could be one of the reasons why Henderson has backed away from the project. It could have been down to the same creative differences that caused Renck to exit, but the truth is currently unknown at this time.

This isn’t the first director drop out since the series was given the green light back in 2019. Originally Villeneuve was meant to lead the way by directing the first episode and acting as executive producer. He then dropped out due to wanting to focus on the films, though he too remains an executive producer.

With such a stumbled start, the outlook for Dune: The Sisterhood is looking a little murky, and Schapker will have to work fast in order to keep the momentum going and avoid any more actor losses as scheduling becomes increasingly impossible.