Dune: Part Two rides the worm to an easy win at the weekend box office
Director Denis Villeneuve is Dune his Part Two save movie theaters
It’s hardly surprising, but it’s still nice to see: After two full months without a proper smash-hit at the box office (nothing released this year has broken $100 million), Dune: Part Two has arrived to take U.S. theaters on a ride in one of those goofy Ornithopters (the movie is a genuine mainstream hit, it can survive a little gentle ribbing). Denis Villeneuve’s sequel opened this weekend to $81.5 million, easily the biggest debut of the year, and it’s a clear sign that American audiences just love stories about white saviors ingratiating themselves into an indigenous culture and then deciding that they are actually that culture’s messiah. Or maybe people just like spectacle and Timmy and Zendaya, who knows.
In second place, with just $1 million more than Dune 2 total after three weeks, is Bob Marley: One Love (it made $7 million this weekend, which ain’t nothing, but it’s a lot less than $81 million). Speaking of less: Churchy drama Ordinary Angels made $3.8 million, followed closely by Madame Web (it would probably have better legs if not for Dune coming out, since people love to be in on a meme). Finishing up the top five is yet another win for Christianity, with two new episodes of The Chosen’s fourth season adding a few more million dollars to the show’s surprising box office bank. (We’ll leave it up to someone whose name is not so clearly printed at the top of this article to try and make a comparison between the story of Jesus and the plot of Dune. Get mad at them, not us.)
The bottom half of the top 10 is all movies that have been around for at least a couple of weeks, including Migration and Wonka (enjoying 11 and 12 weeks in theaters, respectively) and anime tie-in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba—To The Hashira Training. Also, The Beekeper is somehow still hanging in there, even though its release week buddy, Mean Girls, is buried way down at number 21.
The full top 10, courtesy of Box Office Mojo, is below.
- Dune: Part Two
- Bob Marley: One Love
- Ordinary Angels
- Madame Web
- The Chosen: Season 4, episodes 7 and 8
- Migration
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba—To The Hashira Training
- Wonka
- Argylle
- The Beekeeper