The world red carpet premiere of the HBO Original drama series “Dune: Prophecy” took place on October 30, 2024, at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. The series is based on the books by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson and is set 10,000 years before the events of Dune.

Stars and Creators of the HBO Original Drama Series Dune: Prophecy

The red carpet premiere of HBO’s highly anticipated drama series “Dune: Prophecy” buzzed with excitement as the stars and creators arrived to celebrate their work. Entertainment Correspondent Kari dove into the action, capturing exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes glimpses of this thrilling new series.

From the expansive universe of Dune, created by acclaimed author Frank Herbert, and set 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. “Dune: Prophecy” is inspired by the novel Sisterhood of Dune, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

The cast includes Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Travis Fimmel, Jodhi May, Mark Strong, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Josh Heuston, Chloe Lea, Jade Anouka, Faoileann Cunningham, Edward Davis, Aoife Hinds, Chris Mason, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Camilla Beeput, Jihae, Tabu, Charithra Chandran, Jessica Barden, Emma Canning, and Yerin Ha.

Alison Schapker

Showrunner and executive producer Alison Schapker spoke about the challenges of adapting the books for television. She said that she wanted to stay true to the source material while also making the story accessible to newcomers. She also praised the cast and crew for their hard work and dedication.  

“Well, I certainly hope it’ll appeal to longtime fans because we really try to, you know, not dumb it down and give Dune lore it’s due, and it’s made with a tremendous amount of love for the universe of Dune. And at the same time, we really want to tell a story that if you were going to discover it and you were going to discover it fresh with these characters, that our story would be compelling enough that we could bring you along for the ride and sort of open the door to Dune. And it really was threading a needle. And, and we quite consciously tried to do it. And I hope everybody can watch and enjoy.”

Pierre Gill

Cinematographer Pierre Gill talked about the challenges of shooting such a visually stunning series. He said that he wanted to create a sense of scale and grandeur while also keeping the story intimate and personal. He also praised the cast for their hard work and dedication.  

“I’m so happy and proud to work on that. And it is epic. It is big and everything is very big, actually, it’s bigger than you think. Because when you see it, there’s a lot of VFX, but actually most of it is is real, meaning it’s shot on sets. So that set, the production designer, Tom Meyer who created this beautiful, huge sets, it was a challenge, of course, to put our actors into these giant books and make them and follow them in a very intimate way, as much as possible.”

Jodhi May

Jodhi May, who plays Empress Natalya Arat, spoke about her excitement at being part of such a beloved franchise. She said that she was drawn to the character’s strength and complexity. She also praised the cast and crew for their hard work and dedication.  

“It’s a great challenge. I mean, I just love the fact that, you know, Alison writes such incredible strong female characters, you know, and, so, yeah, I just felt that she wrote this character that was incredibly dynamic and that’s always, you know, twisting and turning and you never know what to expect with her. So yeah, that for me was a great privilege.”

Jade Anouka

Jade Anouka, who plays Sister Theodosia, spoke about the challenges of playing a Bene Gesserit. She said that she wanted to capture the character’s intelligence and determination. She also praised the cast and crew for their hard work and dedication.  

“Yeah. I mean, it was just incredible being part of it. I definitely underestimated just how huge the Dune universe is. But, yeah, it feels like such an honor to be part of something so huge and that has such an incredible fanbase already. And I just hope that people love it. I think they will. I think it’s awesome. I like I’ve seen like the first four episodes and I was blown away at the first episode. I literally was like, oh [gasp], and I was like, wait a minute I read this, but like, it just looks so incredible and very different when you get to see it on the big screen, right?”

Aoife Hinds

Aoife Hinds, who plays Sister Emeline, spoke about the challenges of playing a Bene Gesserit. She said that she wanted to capture the character’s strength and resilience. She also praised the cast and crew for their hard work and dedication.  

“Gosh, I think I think it was about like these women coming to the sisterhood, and they go through this really strenuous mental and physical training. And in my mind, I was like, well, that’s kind of just like an extension of like how we are as women, like our mental strength and what our bodies are capable of.”

Edward Davis

Edward Davis, who plays Harrow Harkonnen, spoke about the challenges of playing a villain. He said that he wanted to capture the character’s humanity while also making him menacing. He also praised the cast and crew for their hard work and dedication.  

“I mean, it’s it’s daunting because we we’ve become used to the Harkonnen in the films, and you can kind of watch them and and almost not see a trace of humanity. And then you look at these, they’ve almost they’ve made themselves so inhumane that they’ve almost become robots themselves. You know, they’re just destroying machines, basically. So it was really interesting to have to be handed a character who’s human and flawed. And I mean, they’re flawed, but they’re only flawed. You but but, you know, you can kind of sympathize with Harrow at times and trying to fit that into the world, into the same world and find these, these threads through the the world was really interesting. Really nice challenge.”

Amelia Allwarden and Anna Hauger

Editors Amelia Allwarden and Anna Hauger spoke about the challenges of editing such a complex and visually stunning series. They said that they wanted to create a sense of momentum and excitement while also staying true to the story. They also praised the cast and crew for their hard work and dedication.  

“There are so many complex characters in this series, and we want to make sure their storylines are woven together in the best way that they can. They’re so beautifully written, and when we were putting those characters together in jam-packed six episodes, we were really challenged in the best way with having the possibility to put it together in a lot of different ways and make sure that we’re putting it together in the most epic and entertaining way.” – Amelia Allwarden, Editor

“Amelia read all of them. I read the original Dune. Alison and Jordan, who wrote the show and were the executive producers on the project, are very, very knowledgeable about them. They know the books front to back, and that’s where they base the scripts from. So it’s amazing.”- Anna Hauger

Overall, the stars and creators of “Dune: Prophecy” are excited for the series to be released into the world finally. They believe it is a faithful adaptation of the books that will appeal to longtime fans and newcomers alike.

The six-episode season debuts Sunday, November 17 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. New episodes will debut on subsequent Sundays.