The box office has been fairly good for October thanks to films like Venom 2 and Halloween Kills, but there’s been some uncertainty about what would happen with Dune. Fortunately for Warner Bros., it seems like the new Denis Villeneuve movie’s doing pretty well for its opening theatrical run.
Deadline’s reported that the new adaptation of Frank Herbert’s acclaimed novel has earned $US40.1 (A$54) million for the first weekend, also making it the highest domestic opening of Villeneuve’s career. Previously tracked for a range of $US30-35 million, it’s ahead of expectations and is now the 8th film from WB. this year to open #1 at the box office. It’s been out internationally for weeks now — this weekend has earned the film $US87.5 (A$117) million, and it’s now at $US220.7 (A$296) million overall. Much of it, according to the Hollywood Reporter, can be attributed to IMAX and other large format screens, apparently accounting for 50% of the opening weekend.
Globally, franchises have taken the weekend: the aforementioned Kills is now at $122 million worldwide, and Venom has now slithered its way to $472 mil. No Time to Die has also reached its own milestone with $703 million. According to Forbes, it’s the second biggest release from Hollywood behind F9, which made $959 million earlier this year.
Villeneuve’s been certainly adamant for the past few months that folks should experience Dune in theatre for the true immersion, even as it’s also being released on HBO Max. This movie was one of the bigger selling points to get a Max subscription when WB announced the dual-streaming plan for these pandemic times, and it seems to have mostly lived up to the hype with fans and critics. Time will tell if it’s got a long tail ahead of it and will be enough to ensure a sequel that Villeneuve is hoping he’ll get to make.
Dune will release in Australian cinemas on December 2.