Oscar Isaac breaks down the differences between Dune and Star Wars

Dune is Warner Bros.’ big sci-fi swing. An adaptation of Frank Herberts beloved 1965 novel, it’s set in a distant future where a powerful empire runs a galaxy using a new form of feudalism. The powerful House Atreides is put in charge of the desert planet of Arrakis, aka Dune, and a series of events begins to unfold that will change the universe.

The movie, helmed by Arrival director Denis Villeneuve, is a space opera, although it’s slower and more thoughtful than something like Star Wars. That said, it does have some actors who appeared in that other famous sci-fi franchise: Oscar Isaac, who played Poe Dameron in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, plays Duke Leto Atreides in Dune, the father to main character Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet).

Did Isaac have any reservations about jumping from one sci-fi franchise to another? “Not really, because the genre of it is not as important to me,” he told Total Film magazine. “It’s about who I’m working with, and what’s the story that we’re telling? It’s Denis [Villeneuve], and it’s Dune.”

"Sure, there’s also some spaceships [laughs]. But that’s really about where the similarities end. [Dune’s] not a typical sci-fi film. It has elements of that, but it’s also a meditation. What Frank Herbert did, and then Denis as well, is to explore those themes of family, of the clashes of cultures, and just put it on a stage that allows you to dream with it."

It sounds pretty high-minded, and it is — Dune is a dense piece of work, although the cast found ways to make it fun. For instance, Isaac and Josh Brolin, who plays House Atreides warmaster Gurney Halleck, competed over who could more skillfully play the baliset, a fictional instrument popular in that part of the galaxy.

“He’s definitely got stubbier fingers,” Isaac said. “So I’d say I’m probably the better baliset player. But what he lacks in precision, he makes up with in hardcore passion… Something that I did do as a wrap gift for him and for Denis is, I made a record cover that was like an album that [Brolin’s character] Gurney had released with a bunch of different songs on the back. So that was really fun.”

Josh Brolin: Dune is “a cinematic masterpiece”

Speaking of Brolin, he talked to ACE Universe after he saw a cut of the film, and he was quick to lavish it with praise. “They screened the movie for us when it was finally done, and I was so blown away. I think I can safely say it’s a masterpiece,” Brolin said. “It truly is a cinematic masterpiece, what he was able to do and hold all those characters and give all those characters their time of day, but then also hold the story on top of that, and do justice to the story.”

"And the lighting, which was done by Greig Fraser [director of photography]… It just was one of those moments where it all comes together. No Country [For Old Men] was kind of like that too, where it was like ‘Did you have a feeling that something was going to be great?’ and you’re like, ‘No, I’m having a good time.’ I love doing this, but you don’t know until you see it how great it’s going to be."

Dune comes out in theaters and on HBO Max on October 22.

Brolin’s praise is encouraging, although we should note that the upcoming movie only covers the first half of Herbert’s novel. We’re all crossing our fingers for a follow-up so the whole story can be told:

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