The highly anticipated Dune: Part Two, starring Wonka’s Timothée Chalamet, is off to a strong start. Unlike its predecessor, which stumbled amidst the chaos of a pandemic and a simultaneous OTT release, which impacted the box office numbers greatly, this sequel is shaping up to be a smooth ride.
It seems like the production house, Legendary, is determined to get everything right this time around. So far, the movie has been performing quite well, but it needs to exceed expectations to break even at the box office, surpassing even the numbers of 2023’s Barbie as well as Oppenheimer.
How Much Will Dune: Part Two Need To Break Even?
The stakes are sky-high for Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune: Part Two, as it needs much more to just break even than two of 2023’s cinematic giants, Barbie and Oppenheimer, at the box office. With a production budget of $145 million, Barbie needed to surpass the $300 million mark to break even. And to the credit of Greta Gerwig, the film not only achieved that mark but soared to unimaginable heights and is now an official member of the billion-dollar club.
In contrast, although Oppenheimer fell short of the billion-dollar milestone by only a minuscule amount and earned around $960 million according to The Numbers, its $100 million budget necessitated reaching $200 million to break even.
However, Dune: Part Two faces an even greater uphill battle. Recent reports from The Hollywood Reporter suggest that the film needs to surpass the $500 million mark to break even. But why so? Although the general math says with a production budget of $190 million, Dune: Part Two would need to gross over $380 million globally to be deemed profitable, but that’s excluding costs like the marketing budget due to delays, commercials, and events.
This might pose a significant challenge for the movie to achieve that goal. But predictions say not so much, considering various revenue streams, Dune: Part Two is positioned to yield some significant profits. But strictly from the box office point of view, with a speculated production and marketing budget of over $300 million, Warner Bros. expects the film to surpass its predecessor’s $434.8 million global gross. With that being said, already nearing $200 million globally after just one weekend, expectations far exceed those of the first film, with numerous projections indicating a trajectory toward $700 million or beyond at the box office.
How Is the Timothée Chalamet-Starrer Dune 2 Doing on the Box Office Currently?
The Timothée Chalamet film debuted impressively, surpassing expectations with an impressive domestic opening of $82.5 million and an additional $100 million overseas, resulting in a global start of $182.5 million. The decision to delay the sequel’s release from last fall until now appears to have paid off handsomely, as it allowed the actors to capitalize on promoting and marketing the film since the conclusion of the SAG-AFTRA strike.
The film’s fortunes were further boosted by Christopher Nolan’s endorsement, as he compared it to The Empire Strikes Back, during a recent Q&A session at a Los Angeles screening of Tenet,
“For me, if Dune Part One was ‘Star Wars,’ this [Part Two] … was very much The Empire Strikes Back, which is my favorite of the Star Wars films. It’s an … exciting expansion of [everything] you introduced in the first one.”
Christopher Nolan compared Dune Part 2 to Empire Strikes Back! pic.twitter.com/3zj8fQMdXN
— Raiders of the Lost Podcast (@RaidersLostPod) February 3, 2024
With the film already surpassing Oppenheimer’s opening day box office figures, expectations are high for even greater success in the days ahead, making it increasingly likely to break even. The buzz surrounding the film is most certainly palpable to say the least, evidenced by strong ticket sale numbers even weeks ahead of the release that show no signs of slowing down.
Dune: Part Two is now playing in theaters.
