Prophecy’s Showrunner Explains Denis Villeneuve’s Role in the Show

Though HBO’s Dune: Prophecy—which just aired its second of six episodes last night—takes place over 10,000 years before the birth of a certain Paul Atreides, the show and the Denis Villeneuve Dune movies are close together in nearly every other aspect than time. Both are drawn from the world created by Frank Herbert, of course, but the production design of the very popular Villeneuve movies clearly informed Prophecy‘s look and feel, too.

In a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter, which also digs into her time spent on Lost and Westworld, Dune: Prophecy showrunner Alison Schapker explained how the show carefully worked links to Villeneuve‘s movie into its own DNA, including using the same font for the title.

“We were absolutely inspired by the films, and we wanted our world to feel like it was in conversation,” Schapker told THR. “For example, when we go to Arrakis, the sandworms have a similar design, so Denis was kind enough to bless that overlap. But we also wanted to go to our own corners of the Dune universe, and that’s why we explicitly did not set the majority of our action on Arrakis. We wanted to explore some planets that people were not as familiar with, and do some world building that would hold up in the greater universe. So, yes, we wanted to be in the universe of Denis’ films, while also trying to do our own thing.”

Doing their own thing was important for the show to create its own identity, but even if Schapker and her team had wanted more Villeneuve involvement, it wasn’t really an option. “By the time I came [to work on Dune: Prophecy], Denis had reengaged on the film side of things. That was where he was going to be putting his creative energy,” she said. “So we did not create in lockstep, and being 10,000 years apart really lends itself to that. But he’s a Dune fan, and I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with him, so I hope that he will be delighted by this corner of the universe and time period.”

New episodes of Dune: Prophecy arrive Sundays on HBO and Max; Villeneuve is said to be targeting Dune Messiah, the third film in his trilogy, as potentially his next big-screen project.

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