HBO recently had to figure out how to expand the world of “Game of Thrones” with the prequel series “House of the Dragon,” while rival Prime Video faced a similar (and arguably more complicated) issue when it came to defining the look and feel of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” compared to the world-famous Peter Jackson movies. Now, it’s “Dune: Prophecy” that finds itself navigating the same waters. The Denis Villeneuve “Dune” films made an instant impression on the strength of their visuals alone (with a crucial assist from cinematographer Greig Fraser, who also was behind the camera on “The Batman”), raising a very high bar for the prequel series to match. To hear Alison Schapker tell it, it was all about following in the footsteps of the two recent movies … to a certain extent:
“We were definitely influenced by, obviously, the films and Denis Villeneuve’s universe that he set up. I think he really unlocked ‘Dune’ for people and keeping it an incredible spectacle, but also really feeling grounded in the characters. Yes, we do view ourselves as 10,000 years earlier, but speaking to those films from a distance.”
That applies both metaphorically and literally, as it turns out, because “Dune: Prophecy” will avoid the temptation of turning the desert world of Arrakis into their own version of Tatooine — the planet that almost every “Star Wars” story seems compelled to return. Schapker went on to explain:
“I think that, though, one of the ways that really helped us distinguish ourselves is that we’re not really set on Arrakis. While Arrakis exerts a pull in the Imperium, like it does in any ‘Dune’ story, it’s at a distance. It’s haunting us from afar. It’s influencing events from afar. We were able to set our story on worlds that, hopefully, will be fun for ‘Dune’ fans who enjoyed the movies to go to different planets that they haven’t been before.”
She specifically name-dropped planets like Salusa Secundus and Lankiveil while teasing many more to come, showing off just how nerdy this series is about to get. We’ll find out for ourselves when “Dune: Prophecy” hits HBO and Max on Sunday, November 17, 2024.