Director Denis Villeneuve shares how one particular Star Wars: A New Hope scene inspired his upcoming movie, Dune. Based on Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, Dune is an epic science-fiction adventure set on the fictional planet of Arrakis (also known as Dune). This dangerous desert planet has no natural precipitation or surface water bodies and is primarily inspired by the real world deserts of Mexico and the Middle East. Going further, George Lucas took inspiration from Arrakis when creating his 1977 space epic, A New Hope.
Lucas’ film opens on the planet of Tatooine, which is a desert planet much like Arrakis that features two orbiting moons. Throughout A New Hope, Lucas featured wide landscape shots that prominently displayed the planet’s horizon and natural land features. While a few Tatooine scenes were shot in Death Valley in the United States, the majority of the desert planet was filmed in the real-world location of Tunisia. A North African country bordering the Mediterranean Sea and Sahara Desert, Tunisia boasts a unique landscape that evokes images of starry skies and sandy dunes. Using real-world nature to root Star Wars is one of the reasons why Lucas’ film felt so real, at least according to Dune director Villeneuve.
Speaking to SlashFilm Villeneuve shared how one Star Wars scene inspired his creating of the Dune movie. Villeneuve explains that nature is something that he’s been attracted to since he was a boy. When he saw A New Hope for the first time in 1977, his favorite scenes “were the ones that felt the most natural.” In particular, the film’s opening scene with R2D2 and C-3PO wandering the desert planet Tatooine left a real impression on him. Read Villeneuve’s full explanation below:
“When I saw the very first ‘Star Wars’ in 1977 my favorite scenes were the ones that felt the most natural. The one when we see the droids at the beginning — there was something about the strength of nature. I’ve been raised doing documentaries where nature is your most powerful eye and I try to bring that into ‘Dune.'”
Being raised on creating documentaries about nature, Villeneuve explains that he tried to bring that natural edge to Dune. As he states above, he wanted to make a sci-fi movie that felt a “bit like a documentary,” which used “nature as a strong ally instead of fighting against it.” In fact, Villeneuve is so attracted to biology that at one point in his career he had to make the decision of becoming a filmmaker or a biologist. While filmmaking ultimately won, his sentiment towards nature is something he tries to bring to every film.
Although Lucas took inspiration from Herbert’s planet, Arrakis, in creating his Star Wars planet of Tatooine, it seems that Villeneuve is now using Lucas’ creation to inspire Dune. One of the prominent themes from Herbert’s novel is how nature plays a role in the lives of the planet’s inhabitants. Though set on a fictional planet, given the importance Villeneuve places on nature, Dune is poised to capture the essence of its novel namesake and feel like a believable environment.
Key Release Dates
Dune
Release Date:2021-10-22
