Indiana Jones in the Sahara Desert is adapted from the novel of the same name by Clive Kasler, a best-selling American novelist. Sahara is the eleventh in Kasler's series of marine adventure novels featuring the explorer Dirk Pitt. Although Kasler's novels are very suitable for action movies, only one of his works was put on the screen before this movie, and that is Lift the Titanic (1980). In Sahara, Matthew McConaughey changed his former handsome boy image, grew a moustache to better meet the characteristics of his explorer, and painted a sunburn on his face. Penelope, on the other hand, changed her beauty style and played a scientist doing research in the desert. In the film, the two are always completely humiliated by the wind and sand, and often run wildly in the desert with long hair. Penelope almost got lost in the desert during the filming, which was really breathtaking.