5 Reasons Dune: Part Two Conquered The Box Office

The box office needed a messiah and it found one in "Dune: Part Two." Director Denis Villeneuve's much-anticipated sequel finally hit theaters over the weekend after being delayed by several months. The wait proved to be worth it as moviegoers turned out in massive numbers to see the film, with the sequel making twice as much on opening weekend as its predecessor. And this is truly just the beginning.

The follow-up to 2021's "Dune" made $82.5 million domestically to go with $100 million overseas for a whopping $182.5 million global debut. It was the biggest opening for any movie in months. It gave movie theaters something to celebrate, and it all but ensured that a third installment in the franchise based on author Frank Herbert's legendary sci-fi series will be made in the not-too-distant future. But what factors led to such a massive debut? Why did "Part Two" make so much more than "Part One"? Here are five of the biggest reasons that "Dune: Part Two" was such a resounding box office success. Let's get into it.

It's not exactly rocket science, but there's no real substitute for a good movie. Denis Villeneuve made a good movie, so far as the vast majority of critics and audiences are concerned. "Dune: Part Two" was met with a downright rapturous response from critics who saw the film early, but that doesn't always carry over with general audiences or even the larger pool of critics once a movie actually hits theaters. In this case, the pre-release buzz truly seemed warranted.

The film carries a stellar A CinemaScore for one thing, which signifies that word of mouth will likely be very good on this one in the weeks to come. It also carries an outstanding 93% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, to go with an even better 95% audience score. Those are ridiculously great numbers that most studios would kill for when it comes to any movie, let alone a wildly ambitious sci-fi blockbuster. Not to say that every good movie also becomes a hit at the box office, but it perhaps shouldn't be surprising that a movie that so many people seem to love is pulling in the big bucks.

I have written ad nauseam about the 2024 box office thus far. Ticket sales were pacing about 20% behind 2023 at this same time before "Dune: Part Two" hit theaters. That was almost entirely thanks to the fact that the dual Hollywood strikes last year delayed a ton of movies to much later in the year, or all the way to 2025. January and February were a wasteland (not unlike the southern part of Arrakis) devoid of any big tentpoles capable of bringing out moviegoers en masse. And, if we learned anything in 2023, it's that audiences are very much ready to return to theaters when properly motivated to do so.

All of this to say, audiences demonstrated not just a willingness to return to theaters this past weekend — they were downright eager. From middle-of-the-night showings of the film on 70mm to all of the hoopla surrounding the promotional "Dune" popcorn buckets, this became an event we haven't seen the likes of in months. That's at least partially because expected hits such as "The Marvels" and "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" majorly disappointed against lofty expectations. Villeneuve, on the other hand, delivered the goods, and that allowed this movie to meet the pent-up demand for a big movie on the big screen.

Much like "Oppenheimer" and its miles-long IMAX film print last year, "Dune 2" benefited greatly from demand on premium format screens. Warner Bros. managed to sell this as a "see it on the biggest screen possible" experience very effectively, with audiences flocking to see the film on larger-than-average screens. IMAX alone accounted for 23% of domestic ticket sales, while premium formats overall accounted for 48% of the weekend's total. That is a much higher percentage than average, to say the least of it.

"The only reason it wasn't higher is we ran out of seats," IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond said to CNBC. In an era with so much uncertainty at the box office, it is impressive that some of these films have managed to break through on bigger screens, which come with a bigger ticket price as well. But as we've seen in the pandemic era, for the right movie, audiences are willing to pay for something that feels like a legitimate experience. Sure, the era of casual moviegoing as a thing to do on a weekend just for s***ts and giggles may be behind us, but a new era of going to the movies as a true-blue event appears to be in front of us.

It felt like nothing shy of a miracle when the first "Dune" managed to make more than $400 million at the box office in 2021. Not only was the movie running very counter to the Marvel method of making surefire hit blockbusters, but it was released at a time when the pandemic was a much larger factor in kneecapping ticket sales. Also, Warner Bros. decided to release the film simultaneously on HBO Max on the same day it hit theaters in North America. All of this to say, it's amazing that it made what it made. Buy why the uptick in interest with the sequel?

In short, audiences caught up with "Dune" on streaming over the last couple of years, and they clearly loved it just as much as those who saw it in theaters at the time. To that end, the recent re-release of the film generated more than $30 million just ahead of the release of "Part Two." That was our first signal that the audience for the follow-up was going to be much larger. Not only were people able to discover it on Max, VOD, and/or Blu-ray, but it even recently made its way to Netflix allowing many, many viewers to get caught up before the sequel arrived. It paved the way for a rare situation where the sequel made not just more than its predecessor, but a lot more. It's now among films like "John Wick: Chapter 2" and "The Dark Knight" that carved a similar path. Not bad company to be in.

Not to say that a big movie star always moves the needle, but it sure as heck never hurts anything. To that end, Villeneuve put together one of the most impressive ensembles we've seen in years for "Dune" — one that got even bigger with the sequel. Not only do we have tested stars such as Rebecca Ferguson ("Mission: Impossible"), Stellan Skarsgard ("Good Will Hunting"), Dave Bautista ("Guardians of the Galaxy"), Javier Bardem ("No Country for Old Men"), and Christopher Walken ("Catch Me If You Can") on board, but the filmmaker also wisely included lots of younger actors who he sees as "the new power" in Hollywood.

That includes Timothee Chalamet leading the way as Paul Atreides, with Zendaya ("Euphoria"), Austin Butler ("Elvis"), and Florence Pugh ("Midsommar") along for the ride. Zendaya starred in one of the biggest movies ever ("Spider-Man: No Way Home") since the release of the first film, while Butler went on to be nominated for an Oscar. Chalamet, meanwhile, is coming off of "Wonka," which has made more than $600 million globally. It's a stacked cast full of actors capable of generating interest. Signing those checks paid off for the studio.

"Dune: Part Two" is in theaters now. You can read the film's official synopsis below.

"Dune: Part Two" will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.