Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” had the best opening day for a Warner Bros. theatrical/HBO Max day and date title so far with a U.S. domestic haul of $17.5 million on Friday (including Thursday previews).
The studio is putting the estimate for the weekend at $33 million while rivals put it in the high $30 million range. That would not only be the best WB & HBO Max opening weekend, but also the best opening weekend for filmmaker Denis Villeneuve as well.
As a comparison, Villeneuve’s pre-pandemic “Blade Runner 2049” had a $12.6 million opening Friday while the best performing WB & HBO Max title so far, “Godzilla vs. Kong,” had one of $11.8 million.
The big question will be how much of a drop will happen on Saturday, Sunday and next weekend as the simultaneous release on streaming could eat into revenues. The film’s 2.5-hour runtime also limits the number of cinema sessions that can be shown per day.
Helping things along are the reviews. Critics have been very kind to the film with 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences are even more ecstatic with 92% on the site. In addition, the film snagged an ‘A-‘ CinemaScore (same as “Blade Runner 2049”) with the 25-34 set giving it a solid ‘A’.
The film is also a big draw for high quality viewing with 40% of all moviegoers watching it in a premium format (eg. IMAX, PLF) as opposed to the pandemic’s biggest opener “Venom” which had 22% doing so.
“Dune” also hit China where it took in $15.6 million in its first two days, the No. 2 film in the market, even with a new outbreak shutting down (partially or fully) at least eight provinces. So far the film is performing better than any other Warner title this year and will pass $200 million at the global box-office this weekend with plenty more weeks to run.
20th Century Studios’ much delayed animated feature “Ron’s Gone Wrong” was a bomb, headed for a $6.9 million opening. In limited release, Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” pulled in a superb $30,600 screen average and $1.59 million haul from 52 theaters. That film is pulling in weaker reviews than “Dune” though at 74%.
Disney and Marvel’s “Eternals” will be the next big opener and is in line to debut with $80 million in the first week of November.
Source: Deadline, Variety