Three-week projections for Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two are in, and the highly-anticipated sequel could ride a sandworm all the way to the bank! The follow-up to Villeneuve’s 2021 epic gives theater owners and film industry workers something to feel spicy about, with conservative predictions giving the movie a $65M+ launch. That projected total is 59%-83% higher than the original, which debuted at $41M.

Legendary/Warner Bros released Dune during the pandemic, with the science-fiction spectacle going day-and-date in theaters and on HBO Max. The simultaneous release cut into Dune’s box office totals, but fans longing for a big-screen blockbuster still showed up to theaters, making Dune the second highest-grossing day and date/HBO Max movie for Warner Media at $402M worldwide.

Early tickets for Dune: Part Two went on sale on January 26, with receipts stacking like hotcakes, outpacing Universal’s Oppenheimer, which is quite the feat. Dune: Part Two may blow past the projected $65M+ as theater offerings have been slim for weeks. Movie fans are a tenacious bunch with money burning in their pockets. It seems harsh to lay the saving of a dismal box office at Dune’s feet, but Hollywood is still recuperating from the pandemic and strikes.

Dune: Part Two “will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family,” says the film’s official synopsis. “Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.”

Denis Villeneuve directs from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jon Spaihts based on Frank Herbert’s novel. The film is produced by Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Villeneuve, Tanya Lapointe, and Patrick McCormick. The executive producers are Josh Grode, Herbert W. Gains, Jon Spaihts, Thomas Tull, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, and Kim Herbert, with Kevin J. Anderson as a creative consultant.

Do you plan on seeing Dune: Part Two during the film’s opening weekend? Can Villeneuve’s highly-anticipated sequel be the shot in the arm the box office needs? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Dune: Part Two rides a sandworm into theaters on March 1, 2024.

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