Dune: Prophecy will premiere in November on Binge

As one of the biggest post-COVID blockbusters, it was always a matter of time before we got a new Dune TV series for the streaming generation. But the matter of time was, well, complicated. Originally announced back in 2019 as an HBO Max original, Dune: The Sisterhood promised a prequel to the movie inspired by the book Sisterhood of Dune, with Denis Villeneuve set to direct the first episode. Then COVID happened and the world came to a halt, delaying the release of Dune and just about every other blockbuster movie in production. After development on the series finally resumed in 2023, Denis Villeneuve dropped out and was replaced by Johan Renck (Chernobyl) who also left soon after alongside one of the series’ leads Shirley Henderson.

Warner Bros. merged with Discovery, HBO Max rebranded to Max and the company’s new CEO David Zaslav took an axe to various TV shows and movies in production. Then whispers about the Dune TV series sort of fizzled out for a while. That is until Dune: Part Two went on to gross over US$700 million globally. That last little tidbit seems to have pushed things along because not only do we finally have a trailer for the series, which was announced as Dune: Prophecy, but also more details on the stacked cast and a release window.

Despite the fact that Max plans to launch its own streaming service in Australia in 2025, Dune: Prophecy will be streaming on Binge in Australia. If you're not interested in paying for Binge, there's also the option of accessing Max from Australia by using a VPN.

Binge has confirmed that Dune: Prophecy will begin streaming in November 2024 though no firm release date has been announced. 

It's not confirmed whether Dune: Prophecy will release all episodes at once or drip-feed them week-by-week, but the latter seems to be the way Warner Bros. Discovery and Max like to handle big releases like House of the Dragon. 

Dune: Prophecy is a prequel to the 2021 movie Dune set around 10,000 years before the rise of Paul Atriedes’ rise to power on Arrakis. It’s an origin story of sorts for the movies’ shadow puppet masters, the Bene Gesserit sisterhood of which Paul’s mother Jessica is a devout member and practitioner.

Often referred to as witches in the universe of Dune, the Bene Gesserit is an all-women organisation made up of nuns, spies and scientists who commonly find power through sociological and theological engineering to gain influence across the galaxy. They use tools and mystic abilities like The Voice to influence people of power and spread fear through the galaxy.

There isn’t a whole lot of information on the TV show itself, besides the teaser trailer, which shows a glimpse at a few conspiring Bene Gesserit, as Bene Gesserit are known to do. It does, however, reveal an impressive first look at the cast. The focus seems to be on Emily Watson’s Valya Harkonnen and Olivia Williams’ Tula Harkonnen, but we also see Camilla Beeput, who has been cast as Reverend Mother Dorotea, Sarah Lam portraying Hagal Truthsayer, and Mark Strong as Emperor Javicco Corrino.

Binge is an on-demand streaming library that's run by Foxtel subsidiary Hubbl. It's  currently the more affordable way to get Foxtel's premium drama and blockbuster movies.Like Netflix, Binge offers three plan tiers, starting from $10 per month for Binge with ads. Here's how Binge compares with other Australian streaming services.