Warner Bros
UPDATED FRIDAY ON EXCLUSIVE POST: Legendary/Warner Bros. Dune Part Two has now become too big $12M+ per Warners. That's 4,500 locations, and Imax alone delivered $4.5 million of that, or 38%. Of that preview total, $2 million came from an Imax fan screening on February 25th. The audience reaction has hit Rotten Tomatoes and is at 95%, which is great. Denis Villeneuve's first Dune was 83% approved by RT critics and 90% approved by RT audiences.
Preview earnings for “Dune Part Two” are just shy of “Deadpool,” which grossed $12.7 million, and just shy of the $13 million that Warner's “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” brought in (midnight show begins). Again, there was no fan screening money built in, but this is an interesting selection of fanboy competition for two films that grossed $132.4 million and $84.6 million, respectively.
Dune: Part Two is about ten minutes longer than the 2021 version, 2 hours 46 minutes to 2 hours 35 minutes. Considering how important it is for fans to see this film in Imax or Premium format, it will be interesting to see if there is a slow burn. Some box office sources believe the sequel will be released ahead of time, but it's clear that Dune: Part Two requires an appointment viewing. Cinemagoers want the right seats in the right cinema hall to watch an almost three-hour film. Imax, Dolby Cinema and PLFs were a big driver in the first picture, accounting for 50% of the $41 million 3-day movie (again, it was all the time on HBO Max due to Covid). Imax theaters alone delivered 22.5% of the weekend's $9 million from 404 screens in the first Dune.
Warner Bros.
The last Dune had $5.1 million in previews, for an opening day of $17.5 million, or 29%.
Cinemas are now approaching this film like a Star Wars film. Well beyond AMC's Sandworm popcorn bucket (available on Etsy for nearly $70), chains are selling Dune-themed drinks.
At Santikos Theaters in Texas, the bar special is Arrakis Sunset. At the Larry H. Miller Megaplex movie theaters in Utah, they serve blue worm juice (aka “The Water of Life”) that actually makes Powerade (hey, it's Utah!).
The final “Dune” received an A-CinemaScore and 4 1/2 stars, 84% positive on Comscore/Screen Engine's PostTrak, with a strong recommendation of 66%. I
Yesterday, Nancy reported Wednesday's offshore results of $7.6 million (including previews) from 13 markets, including No. 1 each, notably France, Italy and Korea.
Megaplex residents drink blue worm juice.
EXCLUSIVE, THURSDAY WATCH: Welcome back to the cinema, everyone.
Legendary Entertainment/Warner Bros.'s Dune: Part Two is off to a strong start Thursday, with previews topping $10 million, according to industry estimates. We've heard that figure includes $2 million from the February 25th Imax fan event screening. Note that these numbers are not from Warner Bros. and therefore could be higher or lower on Friday morning. The preview began today at 3 p.m.
At over $10 million, this is the biggest preview cash we've seen since Barbenheimer on Thursday, July 20, as Warner Bros.'s Barbie earned $22.3 million and Universal's Oppenheimer earned 10.5 brought in millions of US dollars. Additionally, despite being a regular on Universal's Peacock streaming service on October 26, “Five Nights at Freddy's” had a great preview of $10.3 million on Thursday night.
Freddy's opened with $80 million, while Oppenheimer opened with $82.4 million. That's the high end of many's expectations for the Denis Villeneuve-directed sequel to be released this weekend.
The previews for “Dune: Part 2” are well ahead of 2021’s “Dune” on Thursday night, which grossed $5.1 million in screenings starting at 6 p.m. They're also ahead of “John Wick: Chapter 4″'s $8.9 million; This film grossed a three-day total of $73.8 million.
What's a little difficult to predict at this point is that pre-sales for Dune: Part 2 will be in premium format and standard pre-sales are fine, according to sources. An $18 million presale typically indicates that a film will hit theaters for more than $100 million, but many in distribution circles take these presales with a grain of salt.
Dune: Part Two has everything going for it: 95% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with critical acclaim and a social media universe per RelishMix of 575.5 million across Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. This significantly exceeds the 468.9 million SMU of the first “Dune” in October 2021, which was available daily on HBO Max.
RelishMix reports: “One element in Dune 2's re-dating in the first weekend of November was clearly the cast's social firepower, with Zendaya at 227.8M, Dave Bautista at 180.1M, Timothée Chalamet at 21.1M. , Florence.” Pugh with 9.5 million, Austin Butler with 5.2 million and Josh Brolin with 3.3 million.”
The Social Media Monitor rule states: “Fully activated at 10 on a scale of 10, with all participants being super social and fully activated on all social platforms.”
Nothing but sun, sun, sun for Dune as far as social media chatter goes, just like the desert setting.
RelishMix says: “The tone of conversation for Dune: Part 2 is positive, with people talking about all aspects of the film – from the cinematography to the soundtrack, everything is praised: 'I'm so impressed by the greatness of these films.' This is one Masterclass in Filmmaking; They don't make them like that anymore.' The ensemble cast delights fans by saying, “We'll be seeing more of Zendaya!” and, “It's SO nice to see Christopher Walken back in action.” Fans agree that the director can be trusted Denis Villeneuve delivers good performances as always, and fans remember his work on Dune and Blade Runner 2049. Many compare this to the original Lord of the Rings trilogy. The music by composer Hans Zimmer is particularly exciting among fans. 'This music! Pure goosebumps! Zimmer does it again!' The film is even described as more than a blockbuster, but a “complex geopolitical thriller,” and fans want more of it: “This had better be a film with more than three hours.”
We will post further updates as they become available.