Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is already one of 2021’s biggest box office hits, but Warner Bros. will bring the film back to IMAX to make it even more significant. As Deadline reveals, Dune will be available for a limited time in IMAX theaters starting this December, allowing viewers to experience Villeneuve’s stunning epic in a format that offers 26% more image space than regular widescreen exhibitions.
Although it was simultaneously released on theaters and HBO Max, Dune crossed the $300 million mark on the international box office in less than three weeks. After Thanksgiving weekend, it’s expected for Dune to reach $100 million in the U.S., bringing it close to $500 million internationally. Considering that the IMAX revenue represents 13% of the movie’s gains internationally and 20% of U.S. gains, it makes sense for Warner Bros. to try to squeeze some more millions of the adaptation of Frank Herbert's best-selling sci-fi novel. Moreover, the strategy might pay off since Dune is no longer available on HBO Max, which means going to the theater is the only way to enjoy the epic.
Dune’s success already led Warner Bros. to greenlight a sequel. Named Dune: Part 2, the sequel will pick up where the first movie left and adapt the second half of Herbert’s novel. Part 2 will reportedly start filming in July 2022, giving Villeneuve a little more than one year to wrap everything up and deliver the highly-anticipated sequel on October 2023. While one year is a tight deadline for a blockbuster, Villeneuve previously said that “a lot of the work has been done already regarding design, casting, locations, and writing.”
Dune’s impressive cast includes Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto Atreides, Zendaya as Chani, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Dave Bautista as Glossu 'Beast' Rabban, Charlotte Rampling as Gaius Helen Mohiam, Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, and Javier Bardem as Stilgar.
Dune is available right now in theaters and will come back to IMAX on December 3. There’s still no information about how long the movie will be available for its second IMAX run. Check Dune’s official synopsis below.
A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, “Dune” tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence–a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential–only those who can conquer their fear will survive.