Astonishing amount of box office money Dune 2 needs to make just to break even

Dune: Part Two has a whopping amount it needs to make to break even at the box office.

The highly anticipated sequel premiered on February 6 before being released in the US and UK on March 1 and fans have flooded to cinemas to watch it - whether that be for the infamous popcorn bucket or the film itself.

Despite many sequels struggling to make as much of an impact as their predecessors, Dune: Part Two has proven to be a hit with viewers, even being compared to The Dark Knight, but just how successful does the movie need to be in order to break even?

Catch the trailer here:

The first Dune movie starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya cost $165 million to make, as per Variety.

It opened at the box office with a strong $41 million and by the end of its box office run it had amassed an impressive $433,922,307 million - having made $108, 897, 830 domestically and $325,024,477 internationally.

Dune: Part Two - starring Chalamet and Zendaya alongside Florence Pugh and Austin Butler - was originally set to be released in 2023, but as a result of the SAG-AFTRA strikes, Warner Bros delayed the planned November release to 2024.

The film was ready to go, however Warner Bros said it was worried about releasing it amid the strikes without the stars not being able to promote it and how this could impact its box office revenue.

The sequel is reported by Variety as having cost $190 million to produce and another $100 million to promote worldwide, however the figure needed to breakeven is even higher.

Warner Bros. Pictures

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Dune: Part Two has a 'breakeven benchmark' of an eye-watering $500 million.

However, thankfully, it's already looking extremely likely it won't have any problems making it past it.

According to Box Office Mojo, the movie opened with a domestic figure of $82,505,391.

And at the time of writing (March 6), the movie has obtained $89,807,621 domestically and $100,020,000 internationally, leading to a worldwide total of $189,827,621.

Legendary CEO Josh Grode told The Hollywood Reporter: "We did some testing on some early materials for trailers and how it was resonating, and when we had our cast available, many of the numbers absolutely jumped up because we had them available to work and promote the movie."

UNILAD has contacted Warner Bros. Pictures for comment.

Topics: Film and TV, Money, Zendaya

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.