A new hope has arisen

Frank Herbert published his seminal science fiction novel “Dune” in 1965, creating a vast and detailed socio-political science fiction mythology so complex that it required a glossary. For many years, “Dune” attracted a very attentive subset of readers, happy to lose themselves in Herbert’s enormous space opera. “Dune” is set tens of thousands of years in the future, where various galactic sects and royal families fought for control of a rare spice located only on the planet Arrakis. The spice was a hallucinogen also necessary for space travel. The plot and characters of “Dune” are legion, and the entire political-religious saga composed of several books is too complex to be discussed here. Fortunately, the basics are all known to everyone thanks to a 1984 film adaptation of David Lynch’s “Dune”and a pair of Denis Villeneuve adaptations in 2021 and 2024.

By 1977, Herbert had written two additional sequels to “Dune,” titled “Dune Messiah” and “Children of Dune,” and the mythology had only expanded further. It was at this point in his career that “Star Wars” was released in theaters. It doesn’t need to be reiterated that George Lucas’ space opera, inspired by the cheesy sci-fi shows Lucas watched as a kid, was a gigantic game-changer for the industry. Its success pushed all of Hollywood to turn more towards science fiction in particular and special effects in general. “Star Wars” didn’t have the same flavor as “Dune” — Lucas’s film was simpler and more kid-friendly — but it was a new sci-fi mythology introduced into the pop firmament.

In an interview with the Daily News in 1977However, Herbert felt like Lucas was scamming him. Indeed, Herbert felt that “Star Wars” had “borrowed” so much from his novels that he briefly considered legal action.

Although the tone of “Dune” and that of “Star Wars” are very different, there are enough superficial similarities to give pause. The Village Voice asked Herbert if he was considering legal action and said:

“I will do my best not to pursue it. […] I have no idea which book this is for, but I suspect it may be “Dune”, since I had a Princess Alia in it and the movie has a Princess Leia. And I heard there was a sandworm carcass and hood dwellers in the desert, just like in Dune.'”

Herbert did not end up pursuing Lucas, but one can imagine that he retained a small amount of animosity. Lucas was quoted in the same article, after being asked about his film’s similarities to “Dune.” Regarding this, Lucas simply stated that the only similarity between “Star Wars” and “Dune” is that “they both have deserts.” Indeed, Lucas has often spoken about his inspirations for “Star Wars”, and he generally talks about “Flash Gordon” as well as Akira Kurosawa’s films. He modeled his robot characters after the protagonists of Kurosawa’s “The Hidden Fortress” and took the final Death Star bombing sequence from the 1955 British film “The Dam Busters.”

“Dune,” meanwhile, has almost never been cited as an inspiration, making its similarities likely coincidental. If Lucas was inspired by “Dune,” it may have been unconscious; Lucas may have read Herbert’s book and internalized some of it.

If Herbert had sued Lucas, would he have had a case? It’s possible. He’s already pointed out that “Princess Alia” looks a lot like “Princess Leia,” but he hasn’t noted that the characters are actually somewhat similar. They are both of royal lineage, yes, and both are the sisters of the warrior protagonists of their respective saga. Additionally, they are both susceptible to a notable magical force present in their galaxies. Leia can use the Force, while Alia has psychic abilities granted to her by the Water of Life.

“Dune” features a sect of witches called the Bene Gesserit who can manipulate the weak using a hypnotic spell called The Voice. In “Star Wars,” wise old Obi-Wan (Alec Guinness) explains that the Force can be used in very similar ways. The desert settings are, of course, similar, although only “Dune” contains oversized sandworms that make deserts uninhabitable. That is, until Lucas wrote his 1983 sequel, “Return of the Jedi,” which featured a sandworm-like creature called Sarlacc.

Additionally, in “Star Wars,” the galaxy is ruled with an iron fist by an evil empire called, well, the Galactic Empire. This bears an uncanny resemblance to the Imperium from “Dune”, an Imperial force that manipulates the various royal houses for their own benefit. The Imperium aren’t necessarily bad guys, but they’re certainly not a beneficial force in the galaxy. “Star Wars” has a breakout character in the form of Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and “Dune” has a breakout character in the form of Duncan Idaho.

And deeper analysis will only reveal more similarities. Could Herbert have won in court? Maybe not, but we can understand why he would be upset.