“Dune: Part II” promises to revolutionize theaters with a powerful $190 million budget
In 2023, two strikes hit Hollywood, preventing stars from promoting blockbusters, so Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures have decided to postpone the release of Dune: Part Two”. The studios feared that without Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya in the promotional campaign, the sci-fi sequel would not live up to its box office potential on the date scheduled for November. So the premiere was postponed to March 1, 2024 (February 29 in Ukraine).
Judging by pre-sales and good critical reviews, Dune: Part II” will gross at least $60-80 million during its US debut. This will be the first film to gross more than $50 million since the thriller Five Nights at Freddy’s, released last October by Blumhouse, Variety reports. Some believe that ticket sales for Dune 2 could even approach the $90 million mark in its first weekend, although the film doesn’t have to reach such heights to be considered a success.
The first film starring Chalamet, Oscar Isaac, Zendaya and Jason Momoa grossed $41 million, including simultaneous screenings on HBO Max. It cost $165 million to make and grossed $402 million at the box office, which was one of the few financial victories of the studio’s hybrid strategy in the COVID era. The sequel cost $190 million, so analysts believe that it will pay off even if it repeats the results of the original Dune.
In the time since moviegoers first traveled to the desert planet Arrakis, Chalamet has only cemented his star status with Warner’s fantasy musical Wonka, which has crossed the $600 million mark at the global box office, thanks in no small part to the actor.
A potential disadvantage of the new release date? The auditoriums have been mostly empty for weeks or even months, as there have been no big blockbusters for a long time. This can be a problem, because an effective advertising tactic is to show trailers before the movie. Since viewers did not go to local multiplexes in January or February, they did not see teasers and trailers for Part Two. Of course, the studio has been intensively promoting the film elsewhere, including running prime-time ads during recent NFL games.
