Denis Villeneuve‘s reimagining of Frank Herbert‘s classic sci-fi novel Dune has opened to $40.1 million at the North American box office. It is a big start, considering that the sci-fi film was also released on HBO Max on the same day, and it also makes the fans wonder, what would the numbers be if Warner Bros. didn’t release the film on the streaming giant simultaneously.
The sci-fi film stars Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, Oscar Isaac as Leto Atreides I, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Zendaya as Chani, Jason Momoma as Duncan Idaho, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Javier Bardem as Stilgar, Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban, and Stellan Skarsgard as Vladimir Harkonnen.
Dune is only the first part of the two-part film as the film only covers the first half of Herbert’s novel, and even though Warner Bros. hasn’t officially greenlit the sequel, with these numbers the hope is almost realized. The co-writer on the epic sci-fi film Eric Roth has said that he already wrote the complete treatment for Dune Part 2, and it looks like that his efforts won’t go to waste as the film has already crossed $100 million at the international box office.
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.