Part Two’ box office opening sparks interest in ‘Part Three’

After a two-month drought, “Dune: Part Two” has delivered a much-welcomed deluge of ticket sales to the domestic box office — and its success could bring a third franchise film to cinemas.

The Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment film opened with an estimated $81.5 million at the box office, the highest of any film released so far in 2024.

“Like an oasis in the desert, ‘Dune: Part Two’ is a sight for sore eyes across theatrical exhibition and all of Hollywood,” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com.

Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic, the second in the Dune franchise, was buoyed by IMAX ticket sales, which represented around 23% of domestic ticket sales, or $18.5 million.

“The only reason it wasn’t higher is we ran out of seats,” said Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX.

Gelfond noted that presales of the film were “really impressive” and that in many locations, tickets for IMAX screenings aren’t available until three weeks out.

“The lesson is that if you take a beautiful visual experience, a good story and you put it in the hands of a brilliant filmmaker with an IMAX camera, you’re going to get very good results,” Gelfond said.

Notably, the entirety of “Dune: Part Two” was filmed using IMAX digital cameras.

Expectations from studio executives, theater owners and box office analysts are that the film will have a long tail in cinemas and continue to collect strong ticket sales in the weeks to come. Similar, Gelfond said, to Universal’s “Oppenheimer” and Disney’s “Avatar: The Way Of Water.”

Internationally, the film is expected to tally $97 million, bringing its global haul to $178.5 million. IMAX represented 18% of all international ticket sales, the company said. The film will debut in China on March 8.

“I think this is a movie where you know the word of mouth is going to carry it,” Josh Grode, CEO of Legendary Entertainment told CNBC. “It is a…