Dune director blames one Star Wars movie for “derailing” the franchise

Denis Villeneuve may seem like the perfect candidate to helm a Star Wars movie – but the Dune director isn’t interested, and one film is to blame.

Frank Herbert’s Dune is arguably the most seminal text in sci-fi history, and its DNA is all over Star Wars; Tattoine is basically Arrakis, both worlds trade in spice, the Empire is the Imperium, and you could argue that Anakin Skywalker is the franchise’s version of Paul Atreides.

However, while Star Wars achieved global popularity extremely quickly, Dune hobbled through Alejandro Jodorowsky and David Lynch’s adaptations before it landed at Villeneuve’s feet. Now, it’s bigger than it’s ever been, especially with Dune: Prophecy on HBO and Dune 3 in the works.

The filmmaker has spoken at length about how enamored he was with Star Wars growing up, but that doesn’t mean he’d ever want to venture over to the galaxy far, far away.

Denis Villeneuve hates Return of the Jedi

In Villeneuve’s eyes, Return of the Jedi “derailed” the Star Wars franchise, and it’s why he’d never want to make a movie of his own.

Lucasfilm

“I was the target audience. I was 10 years old. It went to my brain like a silver bullet,” he explained on The Town podcast.

“I became obsessed with Star Wars. I mean, The Empire Strikes Back is the movie that I anticipated the most in my life. I saw the movie a billion times onscreen. I was traumatized by The Empire Strikes Back. I adore Star Wars.”

Alas, the threequel left him bitterly disappointed. “The problem is that it all derailed in 1983 with Return of the Jedi,” he said.

“It’s a long story. I was 15 years old, and my best friend and I wanted to take a cab and go to LA and talk to George Lucas – we were so angry! Still today, the Ewoks. It turned out to be a comedy for kids.”

Villeneuve believes the series has become “crystalized in its own mythology… very dogmatic, it seemed like a recipe, no more surprises. So I’m not dreaming to do a Star Wars because it feels like code is very codified.”

If you’re hoping he’ll jump ship to Star Trek, you’re out of luck. “I’m not a Trekkie,” he added.

If you’re a Dune fan, keep up to date with our Dune: Prophecy release schedule and recaps of Episode 1 and Episode 2. You can also check out our guide to the Star Wars timeline and our ranking of the best Star Wars characters.