Dune: Prophecy Finally Reveals Iconic Actress As Harkonnen
Following the success of both Dune: Part One as well as Dune: Part Two, it was expected that other projects in the franchise would follow. As it turns out, it is HBO where fans will be able to get their next fix, as the channel is releasing a prequel series called Dune: Prophecy later this year, which takes place 10,000 years before the films. And we have now seen the first picture of one of the show’s leads in character, famed actress Emily Watson as Valya Harkonnen.
Emily Watson Is Valya Harkonnen
Valya Harkonnen is the leader of the Sisterhood, a group which will inevitably evolve into the faction that the movie fans know better as the Bene Gesserit. Emily Watson will be the lead of Dune: Prophecy alongside Olivia Williams, who plays Valya’s sister Tula Harkonnen. The siblings are adversarial by nature, but work to maintain a unified front for the sake of family and for the good of their people.
While many fans may think of the Dune franchise being classics of the sci-fi genre, some might be unaware just how long the books have continued on since the originals created by Frank Herbert. While the original Dune was published in 1963, Dune: Prophecy is actually based off of Sisterhood of Dune, which was published in 2012. Unlike the previous novel, this will mark the first time anyone has attempted to do an adaptation of Sisterhood of Dune.
Emily Watson’s Past Work
Emily Watson has a storied career in Hollywood and will lend a lot of experience to Dune: Prophecy. Watson has worked in such films as Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, War Horse, The Theory of Everything, and Kingsman: The Golden Circle. She also has done other TV projects as well, including 2019’s popular show Chernobyl.
Other Cast Confirmations
Others on the cast who have been confirmed to be involved with Dune: Prophecy includes the likes of Jodhi May who will be playing the part of Empress Natalya, and Mark Strong as her husband Emperor Javicco Corrino. Danish actress Sarah-Sofie Boussnina will also be playing Princess Ynez.
A Challenging Adaptation To Accomplish
Dune fans have been quite intrigued to see how adaptations of the later novels would wind up going, as even among fans of the franchise, reception towards the books not written by Frank Herbert has been mixed at best. So Dune: Prophecy is an opportunity to do something exciting with the franchise and gives fans a reason to be enthusiastic about its future by showing the creators have strong ideas for how to bring the later books to the screen.
Strong Expectations For The Upcoming Series
It is still not clear when exactly Dune: Prophecy will debut, as talk of the release date continues to say nothing further than the Fall of 2024, which leaves a large window. However, the project has been in development for a while now, starting back in 2019 when it was originally titled Dune: The Sisterhood.
Following the surprisingly strong reception that both Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two received, expectations are high for Dune: Prophecy. It will be intriguing to see how well the series does in adapting to the different medium of television versus film.
