Dune: The Sisterhood HBO Max series picks Diane Ademu-John as showrunner

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Over a year and a half has passed since Jon Spaihts dropped out of the showrunner position on the HBO Max television series Dune: The Sisterhood, which is a prequel to Denis Villeneuve's upcoming Dune film (scheduled to reach theatres and HBO Max on October 22nd). Now the replacement showrunner has finally been chosen: the job has gone to Diane Ademu-John, who has previously worked on The Haunting of Bly Manor at Netflix, Empire at Fox, The Originals and The Vampire Diaries at The CW, and Medium and Crossing Jordan at NBC.

Ademu-John will also be writing and executive producing Dune: The Sisterhood, which will be 

told through the eyes of a mysterious order of women known as the Bene Gesserit. Given extraordinary abilities by their mastery of the body and the mind, the Bene Gesserit expertly weave through the feudal politics and intrigue of The Imperium, pursuing plans of their own that will ultimately lead them to the enigmatic planet Arrakis, known to its inhabitants as Dune. 

Villeneuve will be directing the pilot episode. He also serves as an executive producer alongside Ademu-John, Spaihts, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, and Kim Herbert. Kevin J. Anderson is co-producer. Dune: The Sisterhood is coming to us from Legendary, the production company that is also behind the Dune film.

Spaihts is credited for writing the screenplay for the Dune film with Villeneuve and Eric Roth. That film is just the first part of a two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic novel, and when Spaihts stepped away from Dune: The Sisterhood it was said that he would be focusing on writing the screenplay for Dune: Part 2 instead. The Hollywood Reporter's sources also informed them that Spaihts had turned in one script and a revised outline for Dune: The Sisterhood, and Legendary wasn't happy with his work. So the decision was made that he was better off sticking with the features.

In addition to the films and the HBO Max series, Legendary is also planning to expand the Dune brand with video games, comic books, and digital content packages.