Was Star Wars inspired by Dune? DP who worked on both is certain

Star Wars is definitely one of the most influential pop cultural artifacts of the past 60 years. The movies have inspired untold numbers of writers, directors and technicians to become storytellers, there’s an ever-growing network of TV shows, and the way it merchandised itself revolutionized what companies sell us and the way they do it.

But what influenced Star Wars? Well, if you listen to Greig Fraser, the director of photography on both Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, several episodes of The Mandalorian and Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming adaptation of Dune, Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi masterpiece had a lot to do with it.

“There were some similarities like the deserts,” Fraser told Collider. “I mean listen, ultimately I’m positive George Lucas was inspired by Dune when he made Star Wars. I don’t know if that’s sacrilegious to talk about, but there are a lot of similarities in some areas, so you could tell he was definitely influenced by that. So I had to be careful doing both [Dune and The Mandalorian] and not to repeat myself. Also not just for the sake of the movie, but for fun. I hate to do the same thing twice.”

I don’t think it’s sacrilegious to suggest that Dune had an influence on Star Wars. In fact, it’s pretty silly to deny it. Apparently, Frank Herbert himself once outlined 37 similarities between Star Wars: A New Hope and his as-yet-unadapted novel, and several suggest themselves. For one, there’s Luke Skywalker growing up on a desert planet where water is at a premium, hence the family moisture farming business. That’s probably the most obvious influence.

Then there’s the way to Jedi wield special abilities and influence galactic politics, kind of like the Bene Gesserit from Dune. In early drafts, the similarities were even more pronounced. Originally, Princess Leia was protecting a shipment of “aura spice” rather than the Death Star plans. The spice is a crucial substance in Dune, the engine on which the galactic empire runs.

Of course, Star Wars told a story all its own, but everything has influences. And it’ll be fascinating to see Dune given what looks like a very faithful, high-quality adaptation later this year.

Dune has been adapted a couple of times before — by David Lynch in 1984 and as a miniseries by the Sci-Fi Channel in the early 2000s — but neither version quite did justice to Herbert’s series. Lynch’s movie, which he famously hates, suffered a lot of studio meddling, and the miniseries had to adapt an epic tale with a modest budget, and it showed.

John Harrison, who directing the Sci-Fi Channel miniseries, talked to Express about his hopes for the new movie. “I have really high hopes for it,” he said. “I am really excited. I am not directly involved in the production at all. However I have got my ear to the ground about it, and I am thrilled with the way things are turning out. I think it’s going to be absolutely terrific, and I’m glad it’s getting a big screen adaptation again.”

The miniseries covered the first three books in Herbert’s saga: Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. But there’s quite a bit more to come after that we’ve never seen onscreen. “I think there’s so much story left to tell,” Fraser said. “I know that Legendary [Entertainment – Dune’s production studio] is exploring options in that regard…There’s just so much rich material.”

"If somebody came to me and said: ‘Is there a way we can continue on?’ Sure! I’d be up for it’…I read all the books, I love them."

Villeneuve’s Dune movie covers the first half of the original Dune book, with a second half hopefully to follow. Depending on how well the movie does, we could be looking at a long-running series; lord knows there’s enough material. And with the books usually introducing new characters, the cast could keep getting replenished with new actors.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Dune hits theaters on December 18…assuming the theaters are open by then. COVID!

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