A Dune Easter egg has been found in a Wes Anderson movie 12 years later, with even the star of the film surprised to see it was there. The sci-fi franchise has seen renewed interest as of late thanks to the critical and commercial reception of Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two movie. His adaptation is the second attempt on the big screen, the first of which was a 1984 film by David Lynch.
Now, ecto_fun has discovered a reference to Dune in Anderson's 2012 film Moonrise Kingdom. The image posted shows the character Suzy reading a book titled The Girl from Jupiter, which has a map of Arrakis on the back cover. While ecto_fun attributes the map to Lynch's film, it first appeared in Frank Herbert's original 1965 novel.
Moonrise Kingdom star Jared Gilman was also surprised to learn about the Easter egg. This indicates there could be other references to Dune hidden in other media waiting to be discovered.
Anderson's movie isn't the only time Dune has been referenced in other media, both before Villeneuve's movies and after. This includes everything from the use of a stillsuit in the video game Subnautica: Below Zero to a sandworm costume appearing in an episode of Chuck. One recent example is Futurama season 11, episode 4, which parodied the original novel while delivering plenty of Easter eggs throughout.
Moonrise Kingdom is a coming-of-age story, following the growth and development of its lead characters. In contrast, Dune is a darker tale within the same genre, following Paul Atreides as he manipulates prophecy to become someone more powerful than he should be. Given the differences between both stories, a reference to the sci-fi novel appears to be a general showcase of the different ways a coming-of-age tale can be told.
Given the renewed popularity in Dune thanks to its recent films, there's likely to be even more references to come in newer media. Where they show up is unclear, but other coming-of-age tales could use references to the film in a variety of different ways. With this newly-discovered Easter egg now found, it remains to be seen just how many more references to the franchise will be both made and found going forward.
Villeneuve's Dune is streaming on Max, while Dune: Part Two is in theaters.
Source: ecto_fun/Twitter; Jared Gilman/Twitter
