Box Office Report for the Week of March 3

The prophecy has foretold massive success for Dune: Part Two. As it was written!

This week has been pretty special for us Canadians, with Denis Villeneuve coming back to Montreal to premiere Dune: Part Two in front of a packed crowd of 600 attendees, which included stars of Villeneuve’s past films, friends, and family members. The ambiance has never been this electrifying for a Denis Villeneuve film, but it’s even more special when the world anticipates his next movie.

Because of this, it was inevitable that the film would be an even bigger success than the first, which was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture. While it’s too early to talk about the film’s Oscar chances, it’s clear that the Dune franchise will continue with an adaptation of Dune: Messiah, and Villeneuve’s sequel will likely be a major contender for next year’s Awards season. Everything Everywhere All at Once’s Oscar win proved one thing: there is no “set” release date for Awards season movies.

Dune: Part Two is now Villeneuve’s highest-grossing movie, with a worldwide tally of $178.5 million and a domestic tally of $81.5 million. While it did not cross the $100 million domestic mark, the film’s box office run has set the stage for incredible success, the likes of which have not been seen since Christopher Nolan‘s Oppenheimer.

In an interview with Simon Mayo, Villeneuve expressed that he was disappointed to have delayed the film due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. However, the delay allowed him to post-convert the film to 70mm and IMAX 70mm, and is currently selling out large format screens worldwide until the END of March! To make up for demand, some theatres also show the film as early as 3:15 am! Some pundits have said the film will eventually cross the $1 billion mark, but I’m being a bit more conservative here.

While it’s not impossible, the film has a much better chance to end its run at the $800-900 million mark than making that spicy $1 billion, which few films have hit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic and strike-related challenges at the box office should also be a wake-up call for studios to lower their budgets for greater profitability at the cinema. It should also reprogram audiences into thinking that if the film doesn’t hit $1 billion, it’s a failure. By all metrics, Dune: Part Two will not be a commercial failure, even if it does not hit the billion mark.

Should Dune: Part Two not hit $1 billion, I’m willing to make a crazy bet here and say that no movie will hit that mark this year. Deadpool & Wolverine might have the biggest chance, but the first two installments couldn’t do so. It will likely be more successful than its first two films, but by how much? I’m not entirely convinced it has the power to do so. Still, it’s great to see a movie doing as well as it is after a rather dull start to the year in cinemas.

Here is the full list of the top ten films of the week:

1. Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros): $81.5M – 4,071 theatres
2. Bob Marley: One Love (Paramount): $7.4M (-44.8%) – 3,390 theatres
3. Ordinary Angels (Lionsgate): $3.8M (-37.5%) – 3,020 theatres
4. Madame Web (Sony/Marvel): $3.2M (-45.9%) – 3,116 theatres
5. The Chosen: Season 4 – Episodes 7-8 (Fathom Events): $3.1M – 2,215 theatres
6. Migration (Universal): $2.5M (-12.9%) – 2,204 theatres
7. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Hashira Training (Sony): $2.0M (-82.1%) – 1,949 theatres
8. Wonka (Warner Bros): $1.7M (-29.4%) – 1,732 theatres
9. Argylle (Universal/Apple TV+): $1.4M (-48.9%) – 2,283 theatres
10. The Beekeeper (Amazon MGM Studios): $1.1M (-42.8%) – 1,347 theatres

Source: Box Office Mojo