Isabella Putorti March 4th, 2024 - 12:20 PM
The highly anticipated Dune sequel hit theaters this weekend, and audiences did not disappoint. Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two opened with $81.5 million at the box office domestically in the U.S.
The box office opening of Dune: Part Two doubled the opening profit of the first movie, and it the biggest release this year. The film starring Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya stirred a sleepy box office with a major hit.
Internationally, the film opened to a $97 million on the first day from 71 markets worldwide. Over the weekend, the movie made $178.5 giving it a strong start overseas. The film is yet to open in China and Japan, and is set to release in the next two weeks. The U.K. led in ticket sales internationally with $11.5 million. France came in second with $9.3 million, and Germany in third with $8.4 million.
The film cost $190 million to make with the majority of producing money coming from Legendary Entertainment backing the film. During the SAG-AFTRA strike, the release date of the movie was pushed back from its original release in November to instead be released in March. A decision to move the movie back was an expensive risk, but with the opening weekend amassing almost $82 million in ticket sales, the pushback did not cause major problems for the movie. The biggest upset was strike, which caused the cast to miss their scheduled appearance at San Diego Comic-Con, which took place back in July.
Warner Bros. domestic distribution boss Jeff Goldstein had full faith in Villeneuve’s vision and abilities as a filmmaker saying, “Denis Villeneuve is an extraordinary filmmaker filmmaker who assembled an amazing, talented cast, and Mary Parent an epic producer who shepherded this movie and helped create a cultural moment globally.”
Dune: Part Two marked the biggest domestic opening for director Villeneuve with Dune opening to $41 million. The movie also marked the biggest opening for Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, and Austin Butler.
Goldstein told Deadline, “You have to see this movie on the largest screen you can. It’s not something you can experience at home. Cinemas make movie stars and movie stars make cultural moments.”
Goldstein’s sentiment was reflected in the mass amounts of viewers who came out to movie theaters to watch the movie. The top locations for the opening of the movie were 1. AMC Lincoln Square New York, 2. TCL Chinese Los Angeles, 3. Cineplex Cinema Banque Scotia Montreal, 4. AMC Metreon San Francisco, 5. Regal Irvine Spectrum Los Angeles, 6. AMC Burbank, 7. Cineplex Scotiabank Toronto, 8. AMC Empire New York, 9. AMC Universal Citywalk Los Angeles, and 10. AMC Kips Bay New York.
Top Box Office (U.S.)
- Dune: Part Two ($82M)
- Bob Marley: One Love ($7.4M)
- Ordinary Angels ($3.9)
- Madame Web ($3.2M)
- Episode #4.7 ($3.2M)
- Migration ($2.5M)
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – To Hashira Training ($2.1M)
- Wonka ($1.7M)
- Argylle ($1.4M)
- The Beekeeper ($1.1M)
