Well, it appears that the production crew for Dune: The Sisterhood has gotten lost somewhere in the dunes of Arrakis. At least, that’s the explanation I’m going with for why this HBO Max series is going on an extended production hiatus. All because said production crew and even some of the cast are apparently leaving the series entirely.

Dune: The Very Lost Production Crew and Cast?

'Dune' (2021) screenshot showing the completely covered Bene Gesserit group moving against the wind and rain.
Not surprising, since those sisters are wearing those full facial coverings. How do they even see out of those?

Deadline has just reported that drastic changes are happening to the production of Dune: The Sisterhood. Apparently, the entire production of this upcoming HBO Max series will be undergoing a “creative shift”. The first step of this creative shift is director Johan Renck (Chernobyl director) leaving the series. Currently, there’s no mention as to who will replace him as director.

In addition, Diane Ademu-John will no longer be the co-showrunner (along with Renck) for Dune: The Sisterhood. However, unlike Renck, Ademu-John will not be leaving production entirely. Apparently, she will be staying on as an executive producer, so she will have some degree of influence over the series despite that creative shift. Unlike with Renck though, Deadline does mention who will be replacing Ademu-Johnson. Alison Schapker (Alias, Fringe, Altered Carbon) will now be the series’ new showrunner, and will hopefully stay that way.

As a last bit of change for this creative shift, even the cast is undergoing some shakeup. Apparently, Shirley Henderson, who’d been hired to play Tula Harkonnen, will also be departing Dune: The Sisterhood and thus will no longer play her. Fortunately, there’s no other cast who are departing the HBO Max series. Thus, only Hederson’s role will be recast…for now.

The result though is a massive extended hiatus for the production of Dune: The Sisterhood. We don’t even know when they will begin filming again. All we can do is wait for any official word from HBO Max on the matter.

Dune: The Sisterhood Creative Shift: But Why?

'Sisterhood of Dune' cover art.
Maybe all those explosions forced the production crew to flee into the desert?

The weird thing about this Dune: The Sisterhood creative shift is that there’s no real explanation for it. The only official explanation comes from a statement by a HBO Max spokesperson to Deadline. Said statement only mentions the aforementioned crew and cast leaving the series. You can read the full text below:

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.

With all this in mind, it seems like something serious is happening behind the scenes of Dune: The Sisterhood. Something that HBO Max really doesn’t want to air in public. Even Deadline has heard conflicting stories about the reasons behind this creative shift/hiatus. Some sources close to the production state that HBO Max had always planned to stop filming in winter, while others state that production is being pushed back by 7 months specifically to give Schapker and her team time to rewrite the script. Oh, and find a new director, of course.

In any case, it looks like we won’t get to see Dune: The Sisterhood for a while because of this. Likely a very long while. With not even a release window yet as of this writing. Tune back in to THS later to find that out if we ever do.

Source: Deadline