Roger Christian is an English film director, screenwriter, and production designer whose early career defined much of the tactile, lived-in visual style of two of science fiction’s most influential franchises. He won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction for his set decoration work on the original Star Wars in 1977, and earned a further Oscar nomination for his contribution to Ridley Scott’s Alien in 1979.
Christian was directly involved in creating some of Star Wars’ most iconic props, including Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber, the stormtrooper blaster rifle, and Princess Leia’s own weapon, working alongside George Lucas to help realise the film’s distinctive used-future aesthetic. He went on to serve as a second unit director on both Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace, maintaining a connection to the saga across multiple decades.
Christian later moved into feature directing himself, helming the science-fiction horror film The Sender, the biopic Nostradamus, and the widely discussed adaptation Battlefield Earth.
His foundational contributions to the look and feel of both Star Wars and Alien have made him one of the most respected and influential production designers in science-fiction filmmaking history.