Dune debuts with $40 mn at US box office, nabs best domestic opening title for Warner Bros

The $165 million-budgeted Dune marks the best domestic opening for any of the Warner Bros hybrid releases, surpassing the $31.7 debut of Godzilla vs. Kong in March Denis Villeneuve’s Dune debuted with $40.1 million in ticket sales in its opening weekend in North America, drawing a large number of moviegoers to see the thundering sci-fi epic on the big screen despite it also being available to stream in homes. For now, the $165 million-budgeted Dune marks the best domestic opening for any of the studio’s hybrid releases, surpassing the $31.7 debut of Godzilla vs. Kong in March. While The French Dispatch — a $25 million film with a starry cast including Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Benicio del Toro, Tilda Swinton and others — isn’t a small indie, the film’s first-week performance gave arthouses a lift. Said Searchlight Pictures’ distribution chief Frank Rodriguez in a statement: “These figures show that after a year and a half, arthouse and independent theatres have a superhero of their own in Wes Anderson.” Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theatres, according to Comscore.