Dune Series Crosses $1 Billion at the Box Office

The Dune movie franchise has officially crossed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office. 

At the time of writing this, Dune (2021) has earned approximately $434.8M at the worldwide box office, while Dune: Part Two has earned about $575M worldwide – a total of about $1.01 billion. That's a pretty monumental feat for director Denis Villeneuve and Warner Bros. Pictures – especially considering everything this new version of Dune has been through. 

It's no secret that Dune: Part Two is the half of this two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune novel that is doing the heaviest lifting. Dune (2021) had its original 2020 release up-ended by the COVID pandemic; when it was released in fall of 2021 it was done so as part of Warner Bros.' controversial simultaneous release strategy, which put it out on HBO Max streaming at the same time it was in theaters. Even with divisive reviews, continued drag form the pandemic, and streaming taking a big bite out of the theatrical audience, it was a testament to Villeneuve and the cast that Dune still earned nearly half a billion in that volatile market. Especially given the hard sell of getting mainstream audiences into Herbert's dense and weird sci-fi world, via Villeneuve's quiet, impressionist take on the material. 

Now Dune: Part Two has confirmed what a lot of fans of Dune (2021) hoped it would. The spectacle of the sequel has made it a must-see draw in premium formats (IMAX) and the exclusive theatrical release has ensured that Dune 2 is collecting all the money its predecessor was denied – which is quite a bit of coin. It must also be noted that Dune: Part Two is still in its first month of theatrical release. IMAX theaters will be getting a new prime piece of content with he release of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire this week, but Dune 2 could still bubble in the background, earning cash from all the latecoming moviegoers who either waited for initial crowds to die down or came to the film purely through word of mouth. 

Will There Be a Dune 3?

The larger saga of Dune extends far beyond the events of the first book. Dune director Denis Villeneuve has teased that a script for a third film, Dune: Messiah, exists, and that he is focusing on telling the best possible distillation of the source material.

"I'm working on four different screenplays -- I know that Dune: Messiah will be one of them, I don't know if it will be the next or the second next," Villeneuve shared in an interview earlier this year. "My job was to try to keep the spirit of Frank Herbert alive as much as possible -- the whole meaning of Dune becomes clear with Dune: Messiah."

Dune: Part Two is now in theaters.