How Dune inspired Star Wars

There is no mistaking the sand-swept plains of Tatooine unless you meant Arrakis. There is no substitute for the Jedi Order, with the exception of the Bene Gesserit. And, of course, no power in the universe can compare to the Force… except for the Voice.

The galaxy of Star Wars doesn’t shy away from the fact that it owes a lot to the writing of Frank Herbert, the author of the 1965 sci-fi classic Dune. The first act of A New Hope, in particular, strikes a familiar tone to the world revealed in the novel. We are presented with a dangerous desert planet where the native populace has adapted against all odds. A vast empire whose power is demonstrated with colossal ships and battle stations. There is royalty among the stars, such as a lord, a princess, and an emperor.

Regarding the production of the first adaptation of his novel, Herbert once claimed that the 1984 film's director, David Lynch (Eraserhead, Twin Peaks), experienced " trouble with the fact that Star Wars used up so much of Dune."

The first Dune film was released just a year after Return of the Jedi, the final film of the original Star Wars trilogy. While Herbert’s original novel was popular, it was nowhere near as culturally relevant as Star Wars at the time. Ironically this led to the ‘84 Dune being unfavourably compared to the Star Wars films. A further twist of fate is the fact that Lynch was, in fact, George Lucas’s first choice for directing Episode VI, which Lynch turned down to direct Dune.

It would, however, be unfair to reduce the influences of Star Wars to one source. American Westerns, the films of Akira Kurosawa, classical mythology, as well as a host of twentieth-century science fiction, Dune chiefly among them, all contribute to the wide palette that makes up Star Wars.

What this means is that the two franchises have, without a doubt, had a back-and-forth relationship as far as influencing each other goes. Just as the novel influenced the original Star Wars, so too are the new films by Dennis Villeneuve (Sicario, Blade Runner 2049) influenced by the works of George Lucas.

Villeneuve is acutely aware of how his films will be compared to Star Wars. Even before the release of Dune: Part One, the director said in an interview with Fandom that his films would be “Star Wars for adults” also claiming that "most of the main ideas of Star Wars are coming from Dune.”

It will be interesting to see if there is yet another wave of taste-making between the sci-fi giants in the coming years. 2021’s Dune and this year's Dune: Part Two have proven to be huge hits, both critically and financially. This December will mark half a decade since a Star Wars film has hit cinemas. The popularity of the current Dune adaptations may prove to be a challenge for the galaxy far, far away.

If Lucasfilm is smart, they will take advantage of the enthusiasm Dune has produced for the blockbuster epic sci-fi and bring Star Wars back to the big screen better than ever before.