It pays to wait.
With a near 600M social media draw boosted by Zendaya, Dave Bautista, Timothée Chalamet, Florence Pugh, and Austin Butler, the move for Legendary/Warner Bros‘ Dune: Part Two from the strike-stricken desert of the first weekend of November to early March has yielded an $81.5M domestic (as we first told you last night, it hit $80M) and $178.5M global opening. EntTelligence says that translates to 5.2M admissions for 70% of the weekend’s entire foot traffic.
Though logic prevailed to delay the movie from its first weekend in November to March (a decision made back in August), that was a daunting challenge for a movie that cost $190M, 80% financed by Legendary Entertainment. And nail-biting to say the least for those involved.
Changing release dates can be expensive: There’s a start and stop of the campaign (which we hear is around $100M global spend, split akin to the production cost share between Legendary and Warners), and a re-start again. Warners is also getting an 8% distribution fee. One casualty for Dune: Part Two during the strike was skipping San Diego Comic-Con, where they were scheduled to appear. But there’s also the carry-cost/finance charges for keeping the movie on the shelf. Once you do that media buy, you’re locked.
However, Warner Bros. domestic distribution boss Jeff Goldstein knew that early March was a rich bed, having launched such movies as The Batman ($134M) and Legendary’s Kong: Skull Island ($61M) here.
However, it became clear to the parties involved with Dune: Part Two that for a movie of this cost, and to mount a campaign at the level that this movie deserved, you needed the cast. It was essential for the actors to explain to the world what a special movie Dune: Part Two is.
When it came to the sequel, Legendary Chairman Josh Grode says, “There was no question this was going to be a 100% theatrical release worldwide.” Coming away from the first movie — which was crimped by Covid and a theatrical-day-and-date release on HBO Max stateside — Legendary did a bespoke analysis and evaluated the financial impact on the first Dune, speaking with global exhibition and Warner distribution, assessing the pandemic’s impact on a country-by-country basis.
The mission: to triangulate the data to come up with what the true mean theatrical box office value was of Dune to justify the $190M net global cost, a production which reaped tax benefits from Abu Dhabi, Jordan, and Hungary.
“We had a once-in-a-lifetime cast that was ready to go, a great script, and a great filmmaker,” says Grode.
Goldstein beamed today, “Denis Villeneuve is an extraordinary filmmaker who assembled an amazing, talented cast, and Mary Parent an epic producer who shepherded this movie and helped create a cultural moment globally.
“You have to see this movie on the largest screen you can. It’s not something you can experience at home,” added the distribution chief, “Cinemas make movie stars and movie stars make cultural moments.”
The gist of their pitch in the campaign: Dune: Part Two is a movie that’s a love story about a boy falling in love with a girl, and boy becoming a man, amid a world that’s pulling them apart. Those are universal themes that required the cast to market that message.
Premium formats across IMAX, Dolby Cinema, PLFs, 70mm, and motion seating drove a massive 48% of the weekend. For Imax alone in March, they notched an opening record of $18.5M, which is a 23% share of the sequel’s 3-day.
Opening domestic records: Biggest-ever for Denis Villeneuve (beating Dune‘s $41M), biggest for Timothee Chalamet (also beating Dune), biggest for Rebecca Ferguson (beating Mission: Impossible Fallout‘s $61.2M), best for Austin Butler (besting Once Upon a Time in Hollywood‘s $41M).
In a campaign driven by Warner Bros. marketing czar Josh Goldstine, there were crucial beats to hit, and there were great waves from that.
Let’s start with the first trailer, which became a cultural moment out of last year’s CinemaCon in April, which also ran on prints of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Fast X. The bit highlighted key talent, along with a photo gallery in Vanity Fair. That powerful “Thumper” teaser resulted in 282M social media reach, trending in 19 markets on Twitter and 29 markets on YouTube. The trailer was the No. 1 trending video on YouTube in the U.S., and #1 in Entertainment. At 24 hours, social volume trended ahead of comps.
Trailer 2 was dropped on Mission Impossible 7, Oppenheimer, and Meg 2, as well as social media and key linear, which further targeted the Dune fan community and reached a broader audience on TikTok.
Trailer 3 came off of the fan fervor and excitement generated from Brazil Comic-Con CCXP. Warner further amplified the spot with thanks to top influencer support, brand extensions via games/Activision support, and prime in-theater trailer placement on Aquaman 2. The trailer earned a 99% positive-to-neutral reaction on social, and trended in 13 markets on YouTube, peaking at No. 1 in the U.S. and Canada. Social volume from trailer 2 to trailer 3 had a stronger hold than trailer 1 to trailer 2, we’re told, with females engaging more than any of the comp titles.
Throughout it all, cast was the biggest driver of social conversation. TikTok alone clocked 300M impressions.
Riveting moments on social included the following:
Dune: Part Two spots aired during key programming and pop culture moments, i.e. during the Grammy’s with Taylor Swift Artist Affinity digital surround on Spotify, in a Netflix Griselda sponsorship, the Abbot Elementary premiere, NBC’s La Brea finale, the People’s Choice Awards, American Idol premiere, CBS’ The Equalizer premiere, Daytona 500, America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League finale (NBC), The Irrational finale (NBC), The Challenge finale, SAG Awards live red carpet on E!, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart return, and Univision Premio lo nuestro on Univision. There was also a TikTok top view during the day after the Super Bowl.
Dune: Part Two tickets went on sale on Jan. 26 in a multi-promo campaign with Imax.
On Feb. 9, Dune was re-released in Imax in 50 locations in 40-plus markets, as well as 58 off-shore territories which included a 10-minute sneak peek of the sequel and an announcement about the fan screening of Dune: Part Two on Feb. 25 (which made $2M). There was also that re-issue of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet on Feb. 23, which included exclusive Imax content of Dune: Part Two.
Among the brand partners for Dune: Part Two, there was Xbox, which had movie-themed custom consoles and the world’s first floating controllers. There was a Microsoft Flight Simulator Dune Expansion Pack, as well as content with Chalamet and Butler. At the London and NY premieres, there were Microsoft Flight Simulator Influencers and a life-size Ornithopter Game Simulator.
There was also a Govee collaboration with their TV backlights, which entail an immersive viewing experience via their smart lighting products, to mirror aesthetics of the film.
Also, a Hamilton watches partnership with two limited edition watches inspired by the film.
Another biggie was Samsung, which brought Dune 2’s trailer to Neo QLED 8K screens in more than 65K retail stores around the world.
Also, Smartwater with paid social media posts week of release and a NY premiere sponsorship.
Car partner was NIO in China.
EntTelligence says that most people who attended Dune: Part Two went between the hours of 5PM-8PM (33%), followed by 1PM-5PM (31%), 8PM and later (19%), and before 1PM (17%).
The box office data org also reports that family groups came out more on Saturday, and their activity was much higher with the more economically priced standard format ($13.94 average price overall per ticket vs. premium average price ticket of $17.43). Families constituted 13% of the audience, an increase from Friday’s 5%.
“While both days predominantly attracted non-family attendees, the increased percentage of Family Groups on Saturday suggests a slight shift in the audience composition, making it more diverse in terms of household types,” says EntTelligence. Also, when comparing family attendance and adult age group variances across IMAX, standard, and large format screenings, the standard format drew 19% family attendance versus that group’s attendance at Imax (8%) and PLF overall (12%).
The top 10 locations overall are: 1. AMC Lincoln Square New York, 2. TCL Chinese Los Angeles, 3. Cineplex Cinema Banque Scotia Montreal, 4. AMC Metreon San Francisco, 5. Regal Irvine Spectrum Los Angeles, 6. AMC Burbank, 7. Cineplex Scotiabank Toronto, 8. AMC Empire New York, 9. AMC Universal Citywalk Los Angeles, and 10. AMC Kips Bay New York.
Meanwhile, the top markets were Los Angeles, NYC, San Francisco, Toronto, Dallas, Seattle, DC, Chicago, Salt Lake City, and Denver.
Hope is that more women turn out in the days to come: CinemaScore reports that 41% came out, which is a greater share than what PostTrak shows (37%).
Overall box office weekend hit $113M, -5% from a year ago, per ComScore. Meanwhile, thank God for Dune: Part Two, as it propelled the domestic box office for 2024 YTD past the $1 billion line, though still -13% behind the same Jan. 1-March 3 frame a year ago.
Studio reported numbers:
1.) Dune: Part Two (Leg/WB) 4,071 theaters, Fri $32.3M, Sat $28.8M Sun $20.3M 3-day $81.5M/Wk 1
2.) Bob Marley: One Love (Par) 3,390 (-207) theaters, Fri $1.92M (-48%) Sat $3.4M Sun $2.09M 3-day $7.43M (-45%) Total $82.77M/Wk 3
3.) Ordinary Angels (LG) 3,020 theaters Fri $1.05M (-55%) Sat $1.66M Sun $1.14M 3-day $3.85M (-38%)/Total $12.5M/Wk 2
4.) Madame Web (Sony) 3,116 (-897) theaters, Fri $800K (-51%) Sat $1.46M Sun $940K 3-day $3.2M (-45%) Total $40.4M/Wk 3
5.) Chosen, Season 4, Ep. 7-8 (Fathom) 2,235 theaters, Fri $971K, Sat $1.2M Sun $936K 3-day $3.15M, Total $3.9M/Wk 1
6.) Migration (Ill/Uni) 2,204 (-230) Fri $450K (-32%) Sat $1.27M Sun $780K 3-day $2.5M (-13%) Total $123.4M/ Wk 11
7. Demon Slayer…(Sony) 1,949 theaters Fri $515K (-91%) Sat $905K Sun $645K 3-day $2.06M (-82%)/Total $15.7M/Wk 2
8.) Wonka (WB) 1,732 (-471) theaters, Fri $350K (-42%) Sat $865K Sun $520K 3-day $1.73M (-29%) Total $216.7M/Wk 12
9.) Argylle (App/Uni) 2,283 (-2) theaters, Fri $370K (-50%) Sat $650K Sun $380K Sun 3-day $1.4M (-49%) Total $43.9M/ Wk 5
10.)The Beekeeper (AMZ MGM) 1,347 (-810) theaters, Fri $275K (-45%) Sat $524K Sun $314K 3-day $1.1M (-42%) Total $64.9M/Wk 8
11.)Drive-Away Dolls (Foc) 2,278 (-2) theaters Fri $300K (-71%) Sat $430K Sun $270K 3-day $1M (-58%)/Total $4.3M/Wk 2