It only took Warner Bros. Pictures and Denis Villeneuve two films to establish Dune as a mainstream franchise with a billion dollars pocketed at the global box office.
Much of the series' commercial success with modern audiences is largely owed to Dune: Part Two, the second half of the two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert's novel of the same name. It arrives three years after the first film, Dune, set the tone for the rest of the in-development Dune universe, performing splendidly at the box office despite dealing with a relatively fresh COVID-19 pandemic and a simultaneous release on HBO Max.
Of course, most of the praise should go to Villeneuve and the cast for selling audiences a narratively dense and weird sci-fi universe that most probably hadn't heard much about until now.
Villeneuve's impressionist but faithful take on the source material has not only made it a draw in standard theaters but also in premium formats where it has already earned over $124 million. It's now one of the highest-grossing IMAX films of all time, as per Collider.
Dune: Part Two