The premiere of Dune is almost here and we're also learning more about how the film was made. Denis Villeneuve has been sharing new details about the adaptation's development. Amazingly, the Blade Runner 2049 director has admitted that Star Wars had a major influence on the upcoming movie.
Dune is the latest adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic novel but Villeneuve also drew on other classics for his movie. The filmmaker recently spoke to Comicbook.com where he confirmed that Star Wars was a major influence in the project.
"First of all, it's strange to think that Star Wars stole so many... Not stole, but it was so deeply inspired by Dune, and now me, I'm making a movie about Dune, and I'm deeply influenced by Star Wars," Villeneuve said. "I was born with Star Wars, so it was like the pink elephant in the room when we started to design the movie out and we find our own identity in a world where such a huge beast exists."
Villeneuve further explained that there were several other films that served as influences on his adaptation.
"I will say that there's numerous movies that influenced Dune, there's David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia, for sure, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. Those are films that influenced me for several details in the movie," he said.
It's great to know that Star Wars has been an influence on the adaptation. After all, this would mean that the two stories have come full circle. It's hard to deny that the Star Wars movies were inspired by Herbert's novel in the first place. With that in mind, Villeneuve confirming that the films influenced his project makes a lot of sense.
People have long noticed the similarities between Star Wars and Dune, with some claiming that the movies "ripped off" Herbert's book. However, it isn't a surprise that the novel was an inspiration to George Lucas when he first started working on A New Hope.
Dune follows Paul Atreides as his family takes stewardship of Arrakis, the only source of the valuable "melange" also referred to as "spice." However, Paul also discovers that fate has something greater in store for him as he sees visions of a mysterious woman. As his family faces betrayal, Paul must find allies in the Fremen and ultimately free the planet from the tyranny of the Harkonnens.
The latest adaptation boasts of an all-star cast including Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem.
Dune will screen in selected theaters and on HBO Max on October 22, 2021.
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