The Hollywood Reporter (Weekly)
Dune: Part Two Makes Major Gains With Younger Adults
On the first Timothée Chalamet vehicle, only 34 percent of the opening weekend audience were 18 to 35, Hollywood’s sweet spot. For the sequel, that number rose to 50 percent
Forget about sweet and savory. Try sweet and sandy. They mark the two ingredients that have been fuel for Timothée Chalamet, star of Christmas blockbuster Wonka
— which has quietly rung up $624.8 million at the global box office — and now Dune:
Part Two. Last year, the young actor rocketed to No. 7 on the list of the top-grossing stars at the 2023 worldwide box office, up from No. 33 in 2022 and No. 49 in 2021, per box office tracker The Numbers. The site bases its ranking on movies released in that particular year and the two preceding years (this means 2021’s Dune was counted in Chalamet’s tally). The star is the youngest of the top 10 names on the 2023 list, disabusing the notion that there are no replacements for the actors who can open a movie around the globe but are now in their 50s,
60s and 70s (Dwayne Johnson, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Hanks) or
80s (Harrison Ford).
During the March 1-3 weekend, Legendary and Warner Bros. breathed a well-deserved sigh of relief when Dune: Part Two opened to a notably better-than-expected $82.5 million domestically and $100 million overseas. Rival studios believe Dune, which cost a net $190 million to make after production and tax incentives, is almost certain to sail past
its break-even benchmark of
$500 million and could ultimately earn $600 million to $650 million, if not more. (Hampered by pandemic-era production constraints and a day-and-date release on Max, the first Dune
topped out at $433.8 million.)
Dune 2’s opening is a major victory for Legendary, which took a risk by delaying the sequel’s release from last fall until now in order to have the cast — which also includes young stars Zendaya, Austin Butler and Florence Pugh
— available to publicize the movie once the SAG-AFTRA strike ended. Legendary was intent on broadening the audience, rather than just relying on die-hard fans of Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi novel. It appears to be working.
“We did some testing on some early materials for trailers and how it was resonating, and when we had our cast available, many of the numbers absolutely jumped because we had them available to work and promote the movie,” says Legendary CEO Josh Grode.
The enthusiastic tone of
Grode’s response when he was asked about plans for a third film suggested there could be news soon.“We’re all actively engaged in Dune: Part Three,”
he says. “That’s what I’ll say for right now.”