Although Frank Herbert's Dune (1965) was once considered to be unfilmable, the recent success of Denis Villeneuve's take on the material has shown that this is far from true. Thanks to breathtaking visuals and strong performances by actors like Zendaya and Timothee Chalamet, the epic tale of Paul Atreides' revenge against the scheming Harkonnens has impressed fans and critics alike.

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The Dune movies may be long (clocking in at a combined 320 minutes), but they've left many fans hungry for more. Luckily, many much-loved elements of Hebert's narrative can be found in a number of acclaimed movies, books, and television shows. From classic franchises like Star Wars to lesser-known novels, there are plenty of options for fans looking to spice up their wait for Villeneuve's next movie.

6 Star Wars

Movies (1979–2019) | Created by George Lucas

• First Movie: Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope (1977)
• Latest Movie:Star Wars Eipsode 9: The Rise of Skywalker
• Other Media: Books, Video Games, TV Series, Animation, Comics

A young man with a close association to a desert planet is destined to play a vital role in overthrowing the galactic government, but may discover that power has a tendency to corrupt. If this premise sounds familiar, it's because it broadly sums up the character arcs of both Dune's Paul Atreides and Star Wars' Anakin Skywalker. In another universe, it might also have described Luke Skywalker—George Lucas even toyed with the idea of having Luke take his father's place as the franchise big-bad following Vader's defeat.

Outside the prequel movies, Star Wars lacks the political maneuvering central to Dune's narrative, preferring to focus on a simpler good versus evil narrative. However, there are similarities to Herbert's space opera, with Jedi mind tricks coming across as a twist on the Bene Gesserit's Voice.

5 The Expanse

Television Series (2015–2022) | Created by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby

• Premiere Date: December 14, 2015
• Total Seasons: 6
• Cast: Steven Strait, Thomas Jane, Dominique Tipper, Wes Chatham
• Based On:The Expanse novels by James S. A. Corey

While The Expanse (based on a series of novels by James S.A. Corey) lacks the desert imagery of Dune, it more than makes up for this by replicating Herbert's fiendishly complex web of political machinations. Devious political operators like Chrisjen Avasarala could even give the Harkonnens a run for their money, while the mysterious protomolecule has all the universe-changing potential of Arrakis' spice.

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Admittedly, early seasons of The Expanse primarily focus on the political situation within the Solar System rather than reaching for Dune's epic scale, but this does nothing to detract from the show's tense atmosphere. The Expanse may be different to Dune in terms of how it depicts the future, but its dense world-building and strong characters are sure to draw in fans of Herbert's work.

4 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Television Series (1993–1999) | Created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller

• Premiere Date: January 3, 1993
• Total Seasons: 7
• Cast: Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois, Colm Meaney, Cirroc Lofton
• Based On: Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry famously disliked the idea of religion in his utopian future, but Deep Space Nine demonstrated that storylines which explored faith could make for gripping and thought-provoking television. Much like Paul Atreides, DS9's Benjamin Sisko finds himself adopted as a religious figure, the Emissary of the Prophets, by a group of alien worshipers. Like Paul, Sisko is reluctant to accept this role, which will lead to him playing a dramatic role in galactic events.

Due to DS9's ensemble cast and broad range of topics, Sisko's path towards godhood is far less central to the narrative than Paul's journey in Dune. However, the Star Trek series nonetheless manages to emulate the political backstabbing, epic warfare, and arc of an outsider being adopted into an alien culture that is central to Herbert's novels.

3 Nova

Novel (1968) | Written by Samuel R. Delaney

• Publication Date: 1968
• Publisher: Doubleday

Written when Delaney was just 25 years old, Nova imagines a future in which a resource vital for space travel, Illyrion, sparks a feud between rival human factions. The powerful Red family is desperate to maintain its hold over the flow of Ilyrion, while the upstart Lorq Von Ray aims to find a fresh supply of the power source at the center of an exploding star. The parallels to Dune's conflicts over spice production are evident.

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Nova also bears tonal similarities to Dune. Despite the book's futuristic setting, Delaney emphasizes elements of the historical and occult, such as the focus on great houses and the use of tarot cards in place of some technologies. Given Delaney's inventiveness, it's surprising that Nova has yet to be adapted for the screen, although a Neil Gaiman-led adaptation was announced in 2023.

2 Babylon 5

Television Series (1993–1998) | Created by J. Michael Stracyznski

• Premiere Date: January 26, 1994
• Total Seasons: 5
• Cast: Mira Furlan, Bruce Boxleitner, Richard Briggs, Michael O'Hare
• Other Media: Novels, Comics, Short Stories, Animation

Denis Villeneuve's Dune movies have been rightly praised for their impressive visuals, so it might seem odd to compare them to Babylon 5, a series which has not aged well in the looks department. However, despite some wonky early CGI and a tight budget, Babylon 5 remains one of the foundational texts of small-screen science fiction.

J. Michael Stracynzi's series features several Dune-adjacent elements, including an unforgettable portrayal of how power corrupts and some doom-laden prophecies. Babylon 5 is less tightly focused than Herbert's novels, as it covers a wide range of alien races in addition to conflicts between different human factions. The result is a living, breathing universe that rivals the journey of Paul Atreides in the script department, even if it can't compete in purely visual terms.

1 The Faded Sun Trilogy

Novels (1978–1979) | Written by C.J. Cherryh

• Publication Date: 1978
• Publisher: DAW Books

The Faded Sun Trilogy comprises part of Cherryh's epic Alliance–Union Universe, a series spanning thousands of years and dozens of novels. Set following humanity's victory over the alien regul and their mri mercenaries, the trilogy focuses on the budding relationship between the human Sten Duncan and the mri Niun. The mri are a race of desert-dwelling warriors, much like the Fremen, and Duncan must learn their ways if he is to survive various challenges and betrayals.

While the first book in the trilogy, Kesrith, is particularly reminiscent of Dune due to its desert-planet setting, the later novels (Shon'jir and Kutath) also invite comparisons. The corpulent, scheming regul are not unlike Dune's Baron Harkonnen, although Cherryh's talent for creating truly alien cultures ensures that The Faded Sun novels never feel derivative. Indeed, Cherryh's foregrounding of mri characters offers an extraterrestrial perspective on human affairs that is absent from Herbert's saga.

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