The movie "Dune: Part Two" in the United States and Canada during the weekend in cinemas sold tickets for $ 81.5 million after a delayed release, which justified Hollywood's hopes for success, according to The Wall Street Journal, writes UNN.
Details
Warner Bros.' sequel to Dune, featuring a stellar cast of next-generation movie stars including Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Austin Butler and Florence Pugh, sold $81.5 million in tickets in the U.S. and Canada. The strong performance resulted in the first $100 million weekend at the domestic box office since January, when the musical version of Mean Girls was released.
According to the box office tracking system, this weekend's total box office receipts in 2024 were 20% behind those of 2023. After this weekend, this year's ticket sales are 13% behind 2023.
"Dune: Part Two" came out at the best possible time for theaters," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. - "The much talked-about box office, which has been so lacking so far in '24, is getting a boost.
The film also generated good results for IMAX, the owner of a large-format theater that also provides filmmakers with technology that allows them to shoot high-resolution scenes for the largest screens.
IMAX screens accounted for 22.7% of ticket sales for Dune: Part Two, the largest percentage in the company's history, and grossed $18.5 million, the highest March box office for IMAX ever. In New York, tickets for 15 matinee screenings of the Dune sequel in IMAX sold out.
"You're not going to be able to get a ticket until three weeks from now," said Rich Gelfond, IMAX's chief executive, who called the film "a great cultural moment.
Addendum
Based on the 1965 novel by Frank Herbert and set thousands of years in the future, in the era of space exploration and colonization, Dune: Part II" focuses on Paul Atreides, played by Chalamet, the son of a royal family destroyed by war and betrayal.
The sequel was originally supposed to be released in November, when Hollywood actors went on strike and couldn't promote the film, so the producers decided to postpone the release until March.
"For half a century, Dune has been a white whale for a number of Hollywood directors, including Arthur P. Jacobs, Alejandro Jodorowsky and Ridley Scott. In 1984, iconic director David Lynch directed a version starring Kyle MacLachlan and featuring music by the rock band Toto. The movie did not perform well at the box office.