‘Dune: Prophecy’ will launch viewers into worlds far beyond Arrakis, says executive producer

CNN — The already expansive “Dune” universe is about to get even bigger. In Max’s six-part prequel series “Dune: Prophecy,” premiering Sunday, the story will stretch far beyond the vast Spice-infused deserts of the planet Arrakis that Timotheé Chalamet’s character Paul Atreides walked in the recent “Dune” movies directed by Denis Villeneuve. “Prophecy” takes place in “totally different environments” and time periods, according to executive producer Alison Schapker, who told CNN in a recent interview that the show expands the “Dune” universe in a way that feels cohesive to both the Frank Herbert source material and the movies that came before it. “‘Dune’ is a universe that people are attached to,” said Schapker, whose previous credits include leading the charge on shows like “Westworld,” “Lost” and “Alias.” “It exists in a world that matters to people and I think we wanted to respect that.” Schapker’s team ultimately had “total freedom” when it came to setting up these new interstellar locales, but they worked hard to apply the same aesthetic standards set by the films so that it feels like the show “can exist in the universe that Denis so gorgeously put on the screen.” Charlie Hodson-Prior and Sarah-Sofie Boussnina in 'Dune Prophecy.' HBO “Prophecy” takes place 10,000 years before the events seen in Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part 1” and “Dune: Part 2” movies – which are based on Herbert’s famed 1965 novel of the same name – and tells the origin story of the Bene Gesserit, a powerful group of women trained to harness special abilities of the mind and body.