Dana Calvo is set to serve as co-showrunner on the upcoming Dune: The Sisterhood series. Having acquired the movie and TV rights to Dune back in 2016, Legendary is moving full speed ahead with a multimedia franchise that includes movies, TVshows, video games, and more. The property will launch with Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve's film adaptation of Frank Herbert's original Dune novel, which is currently in production with a big-name cast that includes Timothée Chalamet, Oscar Isaac, and Zendaya in leading roles.
The studio and network powers that be aren't waiting to find out if Villeneuve's movie is a hit either, and have already ordered a Dune: The Sisterhood show to series for the upcoming WarnerMedia streaming service. Prometheus and Doctor Strange co-writer Jon Spaihts was previously set to oversee the series, with Villeneuve also executive producing and directing the pilot episode. Now, in a welcome bit of news, it's come to light that the series will further include a female co-showrunner.
Deadline is reporting that Calvo has signed a multi-year deal with Legendary Television Studios that includes her co-running Dune: The Sisterhood with Spaihts. Previously, Calvo created the period drama Good Girls Revolt, and served as a writer and producer on shows like Narcos, Covert Affairs, and Greek.
Dune: The Sisterhood will focus on the Bene Gesserit, a powerful and ancient order of women in the Dune universe that has long played a role in shaping the evolution of human society and politics, even after people started to travel across the galaxy and visit other planets. Villeneuve's upcoming Dune movie will actually introduce a noteworthy member of the Bene Gesserit in the form of the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam (played by Charlotte Rampling). That being said, it's not clear yet if The Sisterhood and the forthcoming Dune film will directly connect with one another or mostly just exist within the same continuity, much in the same way that Blumhouse's The Purge movies and TV series currently do.
In the meantime, it's good to hear that Dune: The Sisterhood will feature a pair of prolific and experienced showrunners in Spaihts and Calvo overseeing things. It's especially encouraging to know that a TV show about an important group of women in the Dune universe will feature an actual woman behind the scenes and helping to adapt the fascinating Bene Gesserit mythology for the small screen. With the primary writers and pilot director now firmly in place, it hopefully won't too be long before fans start to get the first actual casting news for the upcoming series.
Dune: The Sisterhood doesn't have an official premiere date yet.
Source: Deadline