Dune Thursday Box Office Higher Than The Suicide Squad

GreekFire

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Sep 18, 2021
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Dune's opening day gross beat out The Suicide Squad by a cool million. Dune was directed by Denis Villeneuve, who previously helmed the sci-fi epics Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival. The film has a star-studded cast that includes Timothée Chalamet, Oscar Isaac, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, Rebecca Ferguson, David Dastmalchian, and Charlotte Rampling.

Dune is an adaptation of the classic 1965 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, which was previously adapted to film by David Lynch in 1984. It follows Paul Atreides (Chalamet), whose government official father is assigned to the planet Arrakis in an attempt to undermine him. With conflict brewing on the planet's surface, he must learn to conquer his fears in order to survive.

Per Deadline, Dune raked in $5.1 million on its opening day in 3,200 U.S. theaters on Thursday, as well as an additional $6.5 million in 10,500 theaters in China. Just like all of the Warner Bros. slate this year, it was released simultaneously on HBO Max. Compared to The Suicide Squad, which was released on the same model this August, Dune's future is looking bright. Suicide Squad only made $4.1 million on its Thursday opening, so Dune left it $1 million in the dust. It also beat Halloween Kills' $4.85 million, which is a good sign because that film's simultaneous release on Peacock was projected to affect less of its profits. If Dune's box office take continues at this rate, it's poised to knock Kills out of the #1 slot this weekend, as well.

Some have speculated that the simultaneous streaming model has negatively affected the theatrical box office for Warner Bros. projects. In fact, Denis Villeneuve himself has repeatedly expressed displeasure at the prospect of audiences streaming his film on opening weekend. While it's true that its expected weekend take of $30-$35 million is nowhere near what it needs to make to earn back its $165 million budget, the film's presale numbers are strong and it looks like the release model may not have hindered the film's success.

Dune is one of the last films of the year set to release simultaneously on HBO Max. After King Richard and The Matrix Resurrections, there are currently no plans for the release format to continue. However, given the continuing state of the pandemic wreaking havoc on many scheduled productions and releases (including sending Top Gun 2 fleeing to a 2022 release and delaying the dates of a whole chain of MCU movies), if Dune can match the numbers it requires in a theatrical setting while also raking in streaming numbers, it might encourage the studio to continue using that strategy for future titles.