Like sandworms drawn to a Sietch Tabr thumper, audiences thirsting for awe went to movie theaters this weekend and bought tickets for Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune. The enormous space opera’s domestic gross reached a respectable $40.1 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter. With the film already playing in many international markets, the Timothée Chalamet-helmed feature has crossed the $200-million mark worldwide.
This is the best-ever domestic opening for the Quebecois auteur Villeneuve, surpassing his film Blade Runner 2049, which came in at $32.8 million. It is also the biggest opening for a 2021 Warner Bros. film, beating Godzilla vs. Kong’s $31.7 million.
This is significant, because Dune, like all Warner Bros. films from this year, saw a simultaneous release at home on the well-positioned streamer HBO Max. Last week’s big winner, Halloween Kills, did a $50.4 million opening despite a streaming option on Peacock. But in that case, there were some other factors at play. For one, the younger target demographic for a horror picture is always eager to get out of the house. Secondly, Halloween Kills is a mere 106 minutes compared to Dune’s 156 and can therefore fit in more screenings per day. Lastly, let’s be honest here, who the heck gets Peacock?
But as THR notes, the marketing and word-of-mouth convinced people that Dune is a flick that needs to be seen on a big screen. Indeed, large-format IMAX exhibitions brought in $9 million of its weekend haul.
Another notable aspect of Dune’s win is its success despite many critics, even ones who enjoyed the picture, warning audiences to manage their expectations about a traditional three-act structure. The opening title card reads Dune: Part One (not seen in any of the marketing material) and the film slams to a halt midway through the first Dune novel’s story. (Herbert wrote six doorstopper tomes before his son Brian Herbert took over the franchise, collaborating with author Kevin J. Anderson.)
Nevertheless, Villeneuve’s gambit received an A- from Cinemascore, which polls exiting moviegoers on how they enjoyed the show.
At press time (and this could really change any moment) Warner Bros. had yet to officially weigh in on a sequel. Considering how the picture begins (it says “Part One” right there on the screen!) and how it ends (the last line, spoken by Zendaya, is “this is only the beginning”), this film needs a follow-up like a desert needs rain.
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