So Dune has been released in about 33 of its 75 markets and the film is having massive
numbers.
There are still questions over its domestic release with HBO max potentially being a
negative factor, but what can we make from the early gross that the film has garnered.
In this video, I'm going to be discussing Dune's international box office and approaching
the question... will the film succeed at the US box office or does it even have to?
Before I get into it though, if you want to see much more videos on DUNE leading up to
its release date including a video essay on Blade Runner 2049 coming tomorrow, then don't
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But without further ado, let's discuss Dune's current box office and the potential for the
film to be successful.
So Dune grossed $26.3 million in its second weekend of the overseas box office.
This means the film has crossed $77 million in total so far and it makes it the biggest
overseas grosser of the weekend, even if its worldwide total was just under that of Shang-Chi.
But the overall drop was just under 32%, running ahead of films like Tenet, Black Widow,
Shang-Chi, Blade Runner 2049 and Godzilla Vs. Kong for respective markets.
It dropped just 12% in Holland, 17% in Denmark, 22% in Finland and 23% in Germany, giving
Denis Villeneuve a promising $76.5 million in under
two weeks of international release.
Of course, it's not yet at a point of celebration as films like Venom: Let There Be Carnage
and No Time to Die will create serious competition.
But the fact that the film is holding so well in many of these international regions, tells
us that the film is still on track to do really well in its 3rd and 4th week.
Dune will open in Japan on October 15th and then North America, China and 16 other major
overseas territories on the week of October 22nd.
This will pull in a lot more money if the film does well enough to a similar degree
and we would in fact be looking at a sequel being greenlit.
Some other details from the box office results include Dune earning
a massive $3.1 million on 167 IMAX screens with it dropping only 29% in IMAX Russia to
become the biggest-grossing IMAX movie since the pandemic began in just 11 days.
Dune has earned 11% of its total in IMAX alone.
So with all of this success in international markets, other than serious competition which
I think won't be a problem, the big question is... will domestic audiences show up for
the all-star adaptation of the first half of Frank Herbert’s seminal novel.
Well, with the film being available on HBO Max, it will definitely impact the theatrical
business both due to legal and illegal online viewings.
This HBO Max situation has evidently hurt Warner Bros films other than Godzilla Vs Kong
which still did incredibly well in the theatres and Dune is definitely going to lose at least
a bit of money from it too.
But with North America being among the last territories for it to release in, HBO Max
won’t play as much of a role in the film’s first month of overseas business.
The week of October 22nd is somewhat of a worldwide launch, so the hope is that viewers
who want to see it theatrically will do so even if it becomes available on torrent sites.
And don't forget that China and much of the world got Godzilla Vs. Kong before North America
did, with the film gaining $188 million on a $69 million debut.
I’d honestly argue that in the case of Dune HBO Max and piracy can only do so much damage
to a film that audiences want to see in a theatre.
Dune is that type of film and it's being heavily sold as something that must be experienced
in a theatre.
So with this in mind, I personally think that with its massive success
overseas so far alongside the interest in seeing it theatrically, it creates a greater
urge to go and see Dune when it comes out in the US in October.
One thing is for sure, these early numbers are very promising and the film
honestly doesn't even have to be crazy at this point domestically for it to do well
globally.
Dune would normally be happy to get anywhere near the $66 million earned by Tenet in 2020.
I think this is very likely at this point but again we'll just have to see.
But they were the box office figures for the Dune International release and things are
looking really bright so far.
I do think the domestic box office is too early to call, but like
I was saying if the film does ok and in the rest of the world continues getting these
big numbers, then its global box office is going to be big enough for Warner Bros and
Legendary to warrant a sequel.
Really, the film needs to make $350-400 million dollars for it to break even, but I guess
the studio did say that if the film does do well on HBO
Max, then they will still go ahead with a Dune Part 2.
I get what they are saying, but honestly, go see this film on the biggest screen if
you can, because it was really meant for that experience.
And audiences internationally clearly are, supporting cinema and what it can bring in
a landscape full of similar-looking movies.
But let me know down below in the comments section how well you personally think Dune
will do at the US box office, alongside your thoughts towards the promising start it has
had in international markets.
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I will be continuing to cover news and topics for DUNE whenever new information comes out
including the film after I've seen it, so look out for all of these uploads.
But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it, I've been Cortex and as always make some noise.