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Dune exceeds box office expectations in overseas debut

By Mia Johnson

(L-r) JOSH BROLIN as Gurney Halleck and OSCAR ISAAC as Duke Leto Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary release. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, Chiabella James
(L-r) JOSH BROLIN as Gurney Halleck and OSCAR ISAAC as Duke Leto Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary release. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, Chiabella James /
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Things are looking up for Dune as it wraps its first weekend at the overseas box office. As Deadline reports, the movie is doing better than expected, and that could be good news for the film once it opens in the U.S.

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune opened to $36.8 million overseas in about 24 markets this past weekend. In comparison, Black Widow opened in 46 markets during its opening weekend and raked in $78.8 million. But Deadline says that Dune is still tracking “33% ahead of Black Widow.” Dune is tracking ahead of many theatrical releases this year such as Tenet and Godzilla vs. Kong — it could be a sign that things are getting back on track when it comes to theaters after months of coronavirus-fueled hesitancy.

But Dune will face a new challenge when it opens in North America: it will also be available to watch on HBO Max, following the same day-and-date model that Warner Bros. established for all of its 2021 releases. While Dune will likely look amazing on theater screens, including IMAX, that doesn’t mean some people won’t opt to watch it at home. Still, Dune is promoting itself as a big screen event, so hopefully the domestic box office won’t disappoint.

Chances of Dune Part 2 are looking favorable

Dune only adapts the first half of Frank Herbert’s classic 1965 sci-fi novel, and Denis Villeneuve will need to make a sequel to finish the story. For that reason, its box office numbers are important, because the fate of the sequel depends on how well the movie performs.

We don’t have a full picture of that yet, but the movie has a 90% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Hopefully fans will feel the same way.

We’ve still got about a month to go before Dune hits theaters in the U.S. on October. 22. And even though it seems like a sure bet that Warner Bros. will green light a follow-up, we’ll have to watch the domestic box office numbers to be sure.

Next. Dune director: Marvel movies are "cut and paste". dark

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