The film, which everyone talks about lately and has put Hungary in the spotlight for the scenes shot there, is breaking box office records.
The highly anticipated Legendary/Warner Bros. movie opened overseas to $36.8 million across 24 markets and 7,819 screens. Russia led international tickets sales with $7.6 million, followed by France ($7.5 million), Germany ($4.9 million), and Italy ($2.6 million).
“Dune”‘s giant-format ticket sales were a particular stand-out, with the movie earning $3.6 million in Imax ticket sales from 142 screens, making its per-screen Imax average an astounding $25,000. The Imax ticket sales made up 10 percent of the movie’s total international take. The movie was shot for large-format viewing, with the Imax version featuring an exclusive expanded aspect ratio.
Next weekend, “Dune” will continue its international expansion, opening into the Middle East, before expanding into smaller markets in mid-October and then debuting worldwide on Oct. 22. It should be noted that surges of COVID-19 cases continue to impact international markets like Australia, Japan, and Korea.
The movie is set to debut in the U.S. on Oct. 22. Like all 2022 Warner Bros. titles, “Dune” will premiere day-and-date on HBO Max and in theaters. The streaming service is not available internationally, meaning the sci-fi epic is available only in theaters overseas. “Dune” will debut in China via Legendary on the recently revealed date of Oct. 22.
Timothée Chalamet leads Denis Villeneuve’s take on Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi classic. Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, and Javier Bardem round out the A-list ensemble.
Elsewhere at the international box office, Clint Eastwood’s Western drama “Cry Macho” (also from Warner Bros.) crumbled in its debut, collecting a muted $350,000 from 18 foreign markets and 585 screens. The $33 million-budgeted film also fell flat in North America, where it premiered day-and-date on HBO Max, resulting in a global tally of $4.8 million.
“Dune” wasn’t the only Hollywood movie to entice international audiences. Disney’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” had another strong showing in theaters, pulling in $20.3 million from 43 overseas territories over the weekend. The Marvel superhero adventure, starring Simu Liu and Awkwafina, has generated $143 million internationally and $176 million domestically, bringing its worldwide total to $320 million. After three weeks of release, “Shang-Chi” already stands as the fourth-highest grossing movie of the year.
