The initial reviews and the Rotten Tomatoes score for HBO’s upcoming series Dune: Prophecy are considerably subdued, compared to the Dune movies. The show, taking place 10,000 years before the events of Dune (2021),

Dune: Prophecy hits our screens this weekend, and critics are getting the first say on the series, which serves as a prequel to Denis Villeneuve's Dune universe and follows the lives of the Bene Gesserit.

Emily Watson, Olivia Williams and Mark Strong star in a visually grand six-part series, which takes place before the events of Denis Villeneuve’s blockbusters and focuses on a scheming drama surrounding the Bene Gesserit.

A long-gestating prequel, about the women who seek to guide a galaxy, is splashy, somber and insufficiently spicy.