The competitive October release schedule is starting to really heat up with the highly anticipated release of director Denis Villeneuve’s film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune. After a year's delay due to the pandemic, the film has finally premiered to a strong $5.1 million in its Thursday night preview showings. This is impressive given the fact that this is another film that Warner Brothers has released in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously. Unlike other films that were released day and date on the platform, Dune premiered at 6 PM EST Thursday night on HBO Max, at least an hour before most showings in theaters.
When you compare the opening numbers with recent releases, this falls in the middle of the pandemic spectrum. Dune beat out last week's roaring release Halloween Kills, which made $4.8 million in previews and ended up making a very strong $49.4 million in its first weekend. However, the film came up short of James Bond’s latest adventure No Time to Die, which made $6.3 million in its Thursday preview and went on to make $55.2 million in its opening weekend.
Dune itself is projected to make $30 million to $40 million this weekend, which given its $165 million budget feels like a disappointment, but that is only half the story, as Warner Bros. will be looking heavily at the numbers on HBO Max to determine if Dune is a hit.
Speaking with Variety this past week, WarnerMedia Chair Anna Sarnoff stated, "The story in itself sets up for a sequel. The production is so amazing and the storytelling is so compelling that it’s not going to be judged on box office alone." She goes on to say that green-lighting the project will be based on “the entirety of what Dune can do for the company, including HBO Max.”
The only other major release in theaters this week is Disney and 20th Century’s animated sci-fi adventure film Ron’s Gone Wrong, which has only grossed $240,000 in its Thursday night previews and is estimated to bring in $7 million to $10 million this weekend. If Dune is going to surpass its projected numbers, it is going to have to fight with Michael Myers and 007 to come out as king of the box office.
The once-thought unfilmable sci-fi epic of Dune is ambitiously coming to the silver screen from Academy Award-nominated director Villeneuve, who has made such critically acclaimed films like Prisoners, Sicario, Arrival, and Blade Runner 2049. Dune stars Timothèe Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem. Villeneuve has split the long novel into two parts, with the first billed as Dune Part One, and said he would like to direct the sequel, as well as hopefully begin filming in 2022. Dune is in theaters now and also available to stream on HBO Max.