'Dune' Film Erases Novel's Muslim Influences

In 1965, "Dune" offered a daring challenge to imperialism. Frank Herbert's classic novel tells the story of an offworlder, Paul Atreides, whose family rules the eponymous planet under the aegis of the interstellar Padishah Emperor. Dune is the only source of spice, a drug vital to interstellar travel and to the Indigenous Fremen. Paul, exploiting a myth proselytized to the Fremen, leads them in a jihad against the empire. Herbert's editors initially asked him to tone down the "Muslim flavor" of his book. The latest adaptation, directed by Denis Villeneuve, does just that.