A knock-on impact from the rise of streaming providers is that established IP is now not restricted to both TV or movie: These days, the largest franchises transfer between mediums. When Disney+ launched, for example, small-screen extensions of Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe quickly adopted. (One may argue that too many sequence have diluted the manufacturers, however hey, so long as Andor exists, I’m not complaining.) In the meantime, Warner Bros. is hoping that one of many defining exhibits of the twenty first century, Sport of Thrones, will attraction to moviegoers with a function movie set on the earth of Westeros. I may go on: The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and even the John Krasinski iteration of Jack Ryan have proven that studios will discover new methods to maintain franchises buzzing alongside.

The newest case examine is Dune, which, throughout two movies, has turn out to be a worthy champion of the theatrical expertise. Within the fingers of director Denis Villeneuve, Dune isn’t simply one thing that calls for to be seen on the multiplex—actual ones know that splurging for an IMAX screening is one of the simplest ways to embrace desert energy. Such a sentiment is even a part of the franchise’s origins. When the primary Dune was made concurrently accessible in theaters and on the streaming service previously often known as HBO Max, Villeneuve penned a scathing op-ed chastising Warner Bros. for placing the franchise’s future in danger and betraying the sanctity of cinema. Regardless of: Dune nonetheless collected greater than $400 million, a formidable haul contemplating what number of Warner motion pictures crashed and burned on the field workplace after the studio’s ill-fated launch technique. Quick-forward to 2024, and Dune: Half Two has turn out to be the fifth-highest-grossing film of the yr—no small feat for a 166-minute sci-fi epic a few drugged-out aristocrat who incites an intergalactic holy battle. All of which to say: Dune is, maybe greater than any present franchise not named Avatar, synonymous with the act of moviegoing.

Will followers of the Dune movies migrate to streaming? For the previous three weeks, HBO has been dropping new episodes of Dune: Prophecy, a prequel sequence set 10,000 years earlier than the occasions of the films. Prophecy has been within the works since 2019, so its launch didn’t precisely come out of the blue. However there are many query marks surrounding the present, together with the inherent problem of creating prequels as compelling as their predecessors, the dense (off-putting?) lore on the core of the franchise, and the 4 totally different showrunners (and three lead administrators) Prophecy cycled via throughout its messy growth. (Additionally, for what it’s price, it was initially titled Dune: The Sisterhood.)

Prophecy considerations the origins of the Bene Gesserit, the omnipotent coven who’ve ingratiated themselves with Dune’s Nice Homes with the intent of controlling future leaders via genetic breeding. (The Bene Gesserit are additionally able to Truthsaying, which is a elaborate approach of claiming they see via individuals’s bullshit, a invaluable instrument in interplanetary politicking.) Our entry level into the story is Valya Harkonnen (performed by Jessica Barden and Emily Watson throughout two timelines), the sisterhood’s second-ever Mom Superior, who has a sophisticated relationship along with her household that drives a lot of her decisions. In the meantime, the Imperium is thrown into disarray when an organized marriage between Home Corrino and Home Richese results in the dying of 9-year-old Pruwet Richese (Charlie Hodson-Prior) by the hands of Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel), a mysterious Corrino soldier who returns from Arrakis with the flexibility to burn individuals alive along with his thoughts. (It’s as gnarly because it sounds.)

Prophecy’s pilot ends with mentioned little one being roasted to dying by a man who appears to be like like Matt Damon in The Final Duel, an unhinged assertion of intent the likes of which HBO hasn’t seen since Sport of Thrones’ little Bran Stark inadvertently spied on the Lannister siblings boning in a tower. (It didn’t go properly for Bran, both.) The truth is, the Thrones universe is the closest level of reference for Prophecy, which additionally leaned on a mixture of political intrigue, complicated world-building, power-hungry characters, stunning violence, and [deep sigh] sexposition in an try and reel viewers in. However though Prophecy is following the Westeros playbook, its early episodes aren’t deserving of a ringing endorsement as a lot as an detached shrug.

Prophecy’s essential downside can also be its largest promoting level: the prequel’s relationship to the films. On the one hand, the sequence is sort of deferential to Villeneuve—aesthetically, it’s straightforward to discern that that is happening in the identical universe. However, Prophecy is about 10,000 years previously or, because the solid has described it, 10,000 B.C. (earlier than Chalamet). In that context, it’s discombobulating that little or no distinguishes Prophecy from the Dune we all know and love, as if this world has been encased in amber for a number of millennia. (If Instances Sq. nonetheless appears to be like like Instances Sq. in 10,000 years, properly, I’d simply be impressed humanity made it that lengthy.) In any case, the Dune comparisons have been at all times going to be a dropping battle: On the subject of a way of scale, particular results, and star energy, Prophecy doesn’t maintain a candle to its predecessor.

What we’re left with, then, is a present that reminds you of larger and higher issues—and what Prophecy does carry to the equation isn’t precisely revelatory. Midway via the primary season, we’ve discovered that Home Harkonnen and Home Atreides have had beef for a very very long time, peace all through the Imperium is fragile, the Bene Gesserit wield extra energy than they’ve let on, and Travis Fimmel is mainly enjoying the identical chaos agent he did in Raised by Wolves (not a criticism, to be truthful; that present dominated). Then there’s the narrative crux of the sequence: the Bene Gesserit’s big-picture aspirations to breed a worthy chief. That’s all properly and good, however anybody coming into Prophecy with information of the films is already conscious that Paul Atreides is destined to turn out to be this determine and that the Sisterhood received’t be thwarted by somebody like Desmond Hart. The longer term being set in stone is a traditional prequel conundrum—one which Prophecy fails to unravel.

Regardless of these drawbacks, there’s at all times room for enchancment, particularly if Prophecy is renewed for a second season. (Whereas Prophecy hasn’t formally been renewed, in keeping with HBO chief Casey Bloys, Season 2 is already in growth.) But it surely’s exhausting to shake the sensation that this franchise simply isn’t suited to tv. Villeneuve let the jaw-dropping imagery of Dune converse for itself; within the director’s personal phrases, “I hate dialogue. Dialogue is for theater and tv.” However the TV-specific qualities of Prophecy don’t really feel natural to the world of Dune as a lot as borrowed from elsewhere: There’s the Thrones-like political scheming, sure, but in addition soapy YA romantic subplots that wouldn’t appear misplaced on the CW. Take into account: Princess Ynez Corrino (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina) vaping the spice mélange along with her hunky sword grasp (an Atreides, naturally) at a nightclub. [Erik Killmonger voice] IS THIS YOUR DUNE?!


Regardless of this WTF-ery, I don’t hate every little thing that Prophecy is making an attempt to perform. At instances, its weird cocktail of influences—Villeneuve and Thrones, with dashes of Westworld, Basis, The Acolyte, and CW dramas for good measure—is, if not essentially nice tv, an entertaining look ahead to fellow sci-fi obsessives. Faraway from the context of the IP it hails from, I might gladly watch a big-budget sequence about conniving house witches controlling the universe from the shadows as telekinetic Morgan Wallen tries to cease them. As an extension of the Dune universe, nevertheless, there are not any two methods about it: Prophecy is caught in quicksand.