Dune 2 potentially headed for $1B in revenue
Warner Brothers’ Dune Part 2, written and directed by Denis Villeneuve with Jon Spaihts as co-writer, is having a tremendous debut week at the box office with opening day gross of $32 million, and an expected $80 million in its debut weekend in North America, setting a trajectory for a potential $1 billion overall revenue as Mark Hughes writes for Forbes.
Mark Hughes is a screenwriter in the film & TV industry with an insight on box office trends, he notes that Dune 2 is on its path to be the first blockbuster of 2024 with a long road towards far overtaking the prequel, which grossed $435 million in theatres, thanks to positive reviews and cheering buzz, seemingly helping the movie cross the $70 million earlier estimate for the first week.
The success of the original movie adapted from Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novel came after a huge gamble when Denis Villeneuve made Dune based on half of the novel without a promise for a sequel, and despite the peak of Covid pandemic, the leak of the movie a week earlier to release and a launch on stream services on its first day, the movie crossed $400 million milestone and earned 10 Oscar nominations.
If the second movie receives same gratitude, which it might as reviewers’ positive words are already out with Clarisse Loughrey from Independent noting the movie feels like an “indoor thunderstorm,” Hughes points out that it could be headed for a massive success, coupled with increased ticket prices as IMAX and Dolby theatres make up for lost screening time due to the movie’s long runtime.
With little to no notable competition at this time, except Kung Fu Panda 4, which Hughes says has a more family-friendly target audience that would soften the steer-away from Dune 2, first weekend global revenue of $200 million is expected, and if achieved, a $650 million to $700 million can later be achieved from global screening in total, projecting potentially hitting $900 million to $1 billion in overall gross, yet Hughes notes that this is not a guarantee and too early to confirm.
