Dune: Prophecy — release date, trailer & everything we know

Emily Watson in Dune: Prophecy (Image credit: Courtesy of HBO)

Denis Villeneuve's Dune movies have quickly cemented themselves as one of the biggest sci-fi franchises of the 21st century (read our Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two reviews to find out why). Now the world of Dune is expanding to TV, as an original series set thousands of years before the events of the movies with Dune: Prophecy.

The estate of Frank Herbert is involved in the series as producers, Dune: Prophecy is not based directly on any of his Dune books, but it is in the family. Its story about the formation of the mysterious, powerful society in the Dune Universe, the Bene Gesserit, is based on the book Sisterhood of Dune, written by Brian Herbet and Kevin J. Anderson.

With all the excitement around the Dune franchise right now, here is everything you need to know about this latest Dune project.

Dune: Prophecy release date

Dune: Prophecy arrives on Sunday, November 17, on HBO and Max in the US. For UK audiences, the series debuts Monday, November 18, on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV, airing live at 2 am UK.

The show was originally set up to be a Max original, but it is now officially an HBO original. This means that the show will still stream on Max, as all HBO shows do, but it will now also be available at a set time on the HBO cable channel when it releases. So if you want to watch then you'll need a pay-TV set up with HBO or be signed up for Max, getting it as either a standalone service or having it as an add-on to other streaming services like Prime Video or Hulu.

Dune: Prophecy cast

Like the movies, Dune: Prophecy is also going to have a stacked cast, led by Emily Watson (Chernobyl), Olivia Williams (The Crown) and Mark Strong (Kingsman: The Secret Service).

Here is the list of actors that round out the rest of the cast:

Travis Fimmel (Boy Swallows Universe)
Jodhi May (The Witcher)
Sarah-Sofie Boussnina (Knightfall)
Josh Heuston (Heartbreak High)
Chloe Lea (Foundation)
Jade Anouka (Fool Me Once)
Faoileann Cunningham (The Northman)
Edward Davis (Sanditon)
Aoife Hinds (Normal People)
Chris Mason (Broadchurch)
Shalom Brune-Franklin (Baby Reindeer)
Jihae (Succession)
Tabu (Life of Pi)
Charithra Chandran (Bridgerton)
Jessica Barden (The End of the F***ing World)
Emma Canning (Masters of the Air)
Yerin Ha (Halo)

Dune: Prophecy plot

Here is the official plot for Dune: Prophecy:

"From the expansive universe of Dune, created by acclaimed author Frank Herbert, and 10,000 years before the ascension of Paul Atreides, Dune: Prophecy follows 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."

Among the creatives helping to bring the story to life are Alison Schapker as showrunner and executive producer, Diane Ademu-John as co-developed and executive producer, and Anna Foerster as executive produced and director for multiple episodes. Other producers on the series include Jordan Goldberg, Mark Tobey, John Cameron, Matthew King, Scott Z. Burns, Jon Spaihts Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt and Kim Herbert.